BANKRUPTCY FALLOUT: As Orange County reels from the repercussions of bankruptcy, Ventura County officials are concerned that brokers across the country will cast doubtful eyes on the portfolios of other California municipalities -- including ours (B1). . . . With building projects still on the drawing board at stake, such a domino effect could cost the state untold millions.

BIG-SCREEN DEBUT: Witnessing Camarillo's grandiose new movie theater spring from a vacant field was like a bit of Hollywood magic close to home. . . . Workers toiled day and night to speed construction of Edwards Cinemas' 12-screen Camarillo Movie Palace. A select crowd will get a first peek tonight at the building's interior, which boasts Italian marble floors and a soaring ceiling (B1). . . . Crews were still hustling to put on the final touches in time for this weekend's big opening.

FOR ART'S SAKE: The observant Ventura County gadabout has doubtless seen it around -- public art, adorning everything from shopping centers to business parks (Ventura County Life, Page 10). . . . Three local cities -- Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura -- have programs in place to encourage developers to incorporate art in their projects. In Ventura, the high-profile "Wavespout," an undulating copper creation, serves as a focal point for the renovated pier. . . . But the success of some of the county's public artwork seems to be up for debate.

TO THE CORE: He's not a punk rocker in the vein of Johnny Rotten -- despite the name. . . . Dr. Rot has loftier intentions -- teaching students about the environment. In reality, Rot is an environmental educator who this week will cart worms to Santa Paula's Bedell School to teach students in a magnet program on environmental studies about the creatures' talent for converting trash to humus. . . . Like a rock star, Rot is in demand on the local school touring circuit. "We were lucky to get him," Bedell Principal Glenn Deines said.

Why give a boring old sweater when the stores are full of delicious things to sate the appetite of even the finickiest person on your shopping list? A few of our favorite ideas follow. The numbered items are pictured on the cover. 1) BOTTLED PLEASURES

Francesco Ferretti's family was pressing olives long before he was born. Now Ferretti is following in the family tradition, harvesting the mature olives grown on his family's 500-acre farm in Cori, Italy, then cold-pressing the crop within five to six hours. Previously, the imported Pietra Pinta olive oil was only sold wholesale to top Italian restaurants (Valentino and Rex among them), but now you can pick up a three-quarter-liter bottle for less than $15 at Bristol Farms in South Pasadena, Rolling Hills Estates or Manhattan Beach, and at Broadway Deli in Santa Monica. It's a pretty impressive present. 2) GO FISH

Tired of forking out big bucks for so-so smoked salmon? At American Fish & Seafood (550 Ceres Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 612-0350), a wholesaler, processor and distributor of fish from all over the world, you get smoked farm-raised Norwegian salmon -- the kind that top restaurants use -- for $11.95 a pound. At most other places, this salmon, hot-smoked in the traditional European manner, sells for more than twice that. 3) YULE LOG

In France, it isn't Christmas without buche de Noe l , a rich concoction of sponge cake rolled into the shape of a log, frosted with chocolate butter cream and decorated with meringue mushrooms and marzipan elves. At Xiomara (69 N. Raymond, Pasadena, (818) 796-2520), chef Patrick Healy is baking the festive cakes for the holidays. Order Healy's chocolate-hazelnut creation with vanilla custard sauce in small ($24, serves 6) or large ($35, serves 10). 4) SWEETENED GREETINGS

Three cousins from Louisiana -- Norwood Clark, Ronald Washington and Darryl Banks -- run Uncle Darrow's Eatery (5301 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 938-4293) where they've been dishing up jambalaya, catfish and file gumbo for the past six years. Their real specialty, however, is Cajun "pa-cawn" candy made from an old family recipe; it tastes like a cross between fudge and a praline. The candy comes in three sizes; a large packet of the candy costs $10 and can be mail-ordered. The cousins also make excellent, buttery "karamel" popcorn ($1.50) and individual sweet "tater" pies ($1.50). 5) JAMMIN'

Marmalade lovers have three terrific reasons to celebrate this holiday season: lemon, orange and grapefruit. At Sunny Springs Ranch in Fontana, Phil and April Valvo and daughter Shannon make low-sugar marmalades and jams using natural pectin and the organic fruit grown on their five-acre ranch. The whole property is fed by two natural springs. "The more fruit I can put in," says April, "the better." The marmalades and jams are available in three sizes (four ounces, $3; eight ounces, $5; 16 ounces, $8) and are sold at local farmers markets (Torrance, Hollywood, Calabasas, Encino, Westchester) or by mail. For information, call (909) 822-5417. 6) SMALL PACKAGES

Christmas without tamales? Not in Mexico. And not in Culver City, either. That's where Belgian-trained Pascal Dropsy (by night the chef at St. Mark's in Venice) makes tamales with his wife, Shirley Coriz, an American Indian who has been making traditional tamales since she was a little girl growing up on the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. Of course, these aren't ordinary tamales. With his chef's training and her family expertise, they've come up with some unique combinations -- and they've managed it without using lard. Green chile and smoked Gouda; chicken and mango-habanero; black tiger shrimp with pineapple and chipotle sauce; beef carnitas; and Belgian chocolate with raspberries and pecans are a few of the 16 choices. "I came up with the different fillings," says Dropsy, "but Shirley taught me the traditional method and how to tie them."

Their Corn Maiden Co. tamales (12102 Summertime Lane, Culver City, (310) 202-6180) run between $22 and $33 a dozen. They are available for take-out or by mail order. And with two days' notice, the tamales will be delivered to your door with steaming and microwave instructions. 7) BETTER THAN MISTLETOE

A wreath to whet the appetite. And it only takes a few minutes to whip up. Braids of locally grown garlic ($14 and $20) are available from Lori's Herbs at local farmers markets (Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica, Encino); the chiles and rosemary can be bought at any farmers market or nursery. Tie on a red bow and hang it in your kitchen for Christmas. When the holidays are over, use the rosemary branches to flavor your favorite dishes: Dried chiles arbol make great salsa; the garlic is a year's supply of goodness. 8) THE GIFT OF GAB

Cucina magazine was intended for the restaurant trade to promote Italian food and wine culture in America. But the glossy bimonthly color magazine has become so newsy and gossipy that it's worth subscribing to if you love Italian food. Try out chefs' recipes, listen to them gripe, and be up on their events. A one-year subscription is $18. Write Datatex Corp., 120 E. 41st St., New York, N.Y. 10164-2263. Or call (212) 338-0362. SAY GORGONZOLA

What could be more versatile than a hunk of creamy, blue-veined Gorgonzola? It makes a good sauce on pasta, works well in salad dressings, melts nicely in hot potato skins and is a fine topping for grilled steak. Best of all, it makes a lovely end to a meal, served with pears and walnuts. Some of the best ($6.25 for a half pound) can be found at Say Cheese (2800 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 665-0545), an upscale food boutique crammed with imported cheeses, La Brea Bakery breads, coffee beans, flavored oils and vinegars, crackers and imported chocolates. MERRY MEAT

After Christmas Eve services in Germany, families often return home and drink tall flutes of Weissbier and feast on soft pretzels and Munchener Weisswurst -- fat, fluffy sausages that are simmered and then slathered with sweet whole-grain mustard. At Atlas Sausage Kitchen (10626 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 763-2692), sausage maker Michael Obermayer makes Munchener Weisswurst ($4.69 per pound) the old-fashioned way, using carefully hand-trimmed veal flavored with cream, parsley, mace and other spices. You'll also find other delicious hand-crafted sausages, cold cuts and smoked meat at this 50-year-old shop. Just don't ask the Santa look-alike wurst maker for apple sausage or other gourmet-types. "I'm in the meat business," huffs Obermayer, "not the produce business." GARDEN GROOMING

It was the contents of the walk-in refrigerator at Abiquiu, chef John Sedlar's Santa Monica restaurant, that inspired Sedlar and former hairdresser Philip Berkovitz to create the Philip B. line of hair and skin-care products available exclusively at Neiman Marcus nationwide. All the products contain high concentrations of food and plant extracts. The white truffle shampoo ($42.50 for eight ounces) was developed in Sedlar's kitchen using an infusion of Italian white truffle oil, fresh lemon rind and fresh thyme. The carrot conditioning creme ($44.50 for eight ounces), which contains 25% carrot extract (most plant-based hair products contain up to 4%), really does make the hair smell like fresh-picked carrots. Carrots never cost so much, but hair may never have smelled so good. COOKIE CRUNCH

From the man who does great things with the lowly potato, now comes biscotti. You can pick up a small sack of these twice-baked cookies at Patinette (250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 626-1178), Joachim Splichal's upscale snack bar at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Choose from chocolate, cinnamon and pistachio, and baklava. Six of the crunchy cookies are packed in a cellophane bag tied with a sprig of pine and a holiday ribbon. They're buttery, rich -- and only $3. STOCKING STUFFER

Garlic tastes great and is good for you too. On the other hand, peeling cloves by hand can be monotonous if you're cooking for a crowd. Now there is a tool to do the yucky part of the job: the E-Z-Rol garlic peeler, a simple, flexible tube, originally designed to aid the handicapped and made from an FDA-approved material that looks and feels like something between neoprene and a vintage rubber girdle. Insert a clove or two in the tube, press down firmly and roll it back and forth with the palm of your hand until you hear a crinkly sound. Best of all, the tool also peels roasted chestnuts, easing what may be among the most painful kitchen jobs during the holidays. The peeler costs about $6.25 and is available at Christopher Ranch (2208 Glendale Galleria, Glendale, (818) 637-2813). MORNING JOLTS

See Dick roast coffee. See Jane blend tea. Dick and Jane Healy own the Coffee Roaster (13567 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 905-9719), a mecca for coffee and tea fanatics. For the beverage connoisseurs on your gift list, try a pound or two of espresso blend (half Sumatra Mandheling and half Ethiopian Harrar), or some of Jane's Welsh breakfast blend of smoky Keemun with long-leaf Assam. Espresso roast is $9 a pound; the Welsh breakfast blend, $14 a pound.

Don't be surprised if you get a busy signal the next time you try ordering from your favorite mail-order source. More and more people now shop by phone. One in two American adults, or 97.7 million people, shopped at home by phone or mail last year, according to the Direct Marketing Association, a New York-based trade group.

Ordering by telephone is everything you want it to be: convenient, time-saving (you can do comparison shopping without leaving your chair), and without the wear and tear on your nerves from jammed parking lots and long check-out lines. Besides, some gifts just can't be bought at the mall.

While not all of the following come with fancy gift wrap, they make wonderful presents and can be delivered in time for Christmas -- if you order now.

* You may not be able to cook like a chef, but you can look like one, thanks to Chefwear ((800) 568-2433), a Chicago company run by two former L.A. pastry chefs, Rochelle Huppin-Flack (formerly of Granita) and Kathleen Magee (formerly of Eureka). Order the same 100% cotton unisex pants, jackets and toques that trendy chefs wear in some of the country's top restaurant kitchens. Chef pants, available in 19 designs, including the traditional black-and-white houndstooth, start at $33; classic white jackets (including embroidered name) cost $50 apiece; toques and baseball-type hats cost $15.

* At Fortuna's Deli in Greenville, Rhode Island, ((800) 427-6879), owner Paul Stannard makes dense, flavorful sausages much the way some people make wine: by hand, in small batches, using only the very best ingredients. And like fine wine, he ages his product slowly, dry-curing it. Stannard's pepperoni, abruzze , caciatorini and capicola are all wonderful. But the smooth-textured soppressata , made from extra-lean pork and spices and then cured for months, is the deli's signature sausage. It comes in three degrees of spiciness and costs $12.95 a pound.

* What's the secret of the fabulous plump roasted peanuts from Nuts Devine ((800) 334-0492), and why do they smell so incredibly good when you open the package? Simple. They're fresh. All peanuts from this Edenton, North Carolina, company are shipped within a week of being roasted. For $25.75, plus $2.95 shipping and handling, you can get a 10-pound bushel basket of the goobers (salted or unsalted) delivered to any door in the country. Mail never smelled so good.

* A perfect cup of espresso is hazel brown with a reddish tinge, has a strong rich aroma and very thick crema. Anyone who makes espresso knows that, in order to achieve this, the grounds need to be tightly packed into the filter holder. The tamper, a knobbed gadget that resembles a chess piece, makes the job of compressing the beans a lot easier. For $25 you can own one invented by Mark Romano for Illy Espresso, a 60-year-old family-owned business based in Trieste, Italy, and the world's leading espresso producer. The perfectly weighted tamper is sleek, available in five colors and -- best of all -- comes with a book on espresso and a can of Illycaffe. Call (800) USA-ILLY.

* Anderson's Candy Shop in Richmond, Ill., ((815) 678-6000), run by the founder's grandsons, Lars and Leif Anderson, is famous for its chocolate butter creams. The brothers are so picky about their product, none of their candy is more than two weeks old. And they even make their own cream: They buy the milk from a local farm and separate it. The result is cream that contains as much as 50% to 60% butterfat (the whipping cream in most supermarkets contains about 30%). A pound of chocolates runs between $8 and $12, plus shipping.

* Stollen has been the traditional Christmas bread of Germany since about 1400. Rich in butter, almonds and rum-soaked fruit, the loaf is dusted with powdered sugar and shaped into an oval that symbolizes the manger in Bethlehem. For the real thing, try the loaf at Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe Bakery in Sheperdstown, W.Va., ((800) 922-5379). A 2 1/2-pound loaf costs $18.95, plus shipping.

* Schwartz Candies' ((800) 522-2462) chocolate-covered marshmallows are truly incredible. Each light and pillow-y square is doused in a special blend of dark chocolate and then packed in a distinctive red-and-white checkered chocolate box. Besides the original vanilla version, the New Hyde Park, N.Y., candy shop makes several other flavors to choose from, including chocolate, strawberry and maple. A one-pound, two-ounce box of all vanilla or assorted flavors costs $27.50, including shipping.

* Cole Porter was so crazy about the fudge from Arnold's Candies in his hometown of Peru, Ind., ((317) 473-5363), that he ordered 12 pounds a month until his death in 1964. The fudge is hand-mixed, hand-poured and made from real butter and cream. A pound of the rich, creamy concoction costs $5.60 plus shipping. You may want to order an extra box or two. As Porter put it, possibly about Arnold's fudge: "It's the tops."

* A good baking powder biscuit should double in height while it's in the oven. It should emerge light and tender and have a golden-brown crust. In the South, where biscuits are an important part of life, White Lily in Knoxville, Tenn., ((615) 546-5511) has been the flour of choice for more than 100 years. It's the stuff of tender biscuits. The low-gluten flour is sold only in the South, but the company will ship five-pound bags of flour anywhere in the country. The cost is $4 per bag west of the Mississippi, postage paid.

* Cheesemakers Letty and Bob Kilmoyer ((508) 928-5110), have a herd of 65 goats on their 20-acre farm in Hubbardston, Mass., and they inoculate the surface of their fresh goat cheese with blue mold. Westfield Farm's fresh blue Classic ($4.08 for seven ounces) is tangy with good blue flavor. Milder, with a soft texture almost like Brie, is the aged Hubbardston ($2.79 for five ounces). Shipping is extra.

The zest is the colored part of a citrus peel. Remove it with a grater, a vegetable peeler and sharp knife, or a zester.

A non-reactive pan is one made from metal that will not react with acidic ingredients. Non-stick, stainless steel, lined or anodized aluminum, lined copper and enameled cast iron are the most common types. Avoid unlined aluminum, cast-iron and copper pans when non-reactive cookware is specified.

The alliance between artist and bureaucrat has, historically, created some of the best and worst of civilization's offerings. The public art of ancient Greece includes temples and public buildings that serve as monumental sculptures. Romans, inspired and challenged by the Greeks, took the notion of an open-air amphitheater to a new level.

On the other hand, the national socialist movements in Germany and Italy this century repressed modern art and individual expression, forcing on artists a sterile and retrograde form of neoclassicism.

With the possible exception of some oeuvres of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, American public art has generally avoided both the highs and lows.

Here and now, in Ventura County, three cities have public arts programs that prove that the union of art and government or art and commerce can, at times, be better than a marriage of convenience.

"The great news about public art is that life is often made better by it," said staff writer Leonard Reed, who wrote this week's Centerpiece. "It's about beauty, about place, about seeing things a new way."

But now the bad news: Public art is just that -- it's public -- and, as such, it is also in-your-face art.

"If you happen to pass by it or must commute by it daily, you have no choice about seeing it or dealing with it. That's not fun if the piece is ugly or stupid or out of place or somehow violates your tastes," Reed said. "I've always been intrigued by public art for those two reasons. It's a social as well as aesthetic experience, and it represents some kind of civic yearning to reach beyond the daily grind."

In looking at some of the more timid, uninspired -- and, therefore, less successful -- examples of public art, it is easy to hear the sound of public outrage ringing in the heads of bureaucrats who ultimately decide to play it safe. What we don't hear much is a discussion of what will or won't stand the test of time.

"I think about all the fountains in Rome, all the sculpture inspired for placement within those fountains, all the relationships parsed, clipped and bonded in the spray of those fountains," Reed said. "The fountains are public art, and they have much to do with why Rome is Rome. But nobody thought of it as public art 200 years ago."

Or maybe they did. The classic orders were obeyed as well, and had been since antiquity. Public art, after all, serves a greater function than as flavor du jour.

"The mural on Terminal Freezers in Oxnard is hip, inspired, about community as well as beauty," Reed said. "The faux water tower on the 101 at Oxnard's Factory Outlet Center is a ridiculous joke, a perversely Disneyesque estimation."

In the modest, but certainly notable ranks of Ventura County artists who have seized acclaim outside the region, the name Botke looms large. Cornelius and Jessie Botke, man and wife, decamped in Santa Paula in 1929 and built up artistic reputations over the next few decades that continue to thrive, posthumously.

The Dutch-born Botke had met Jessie Arms in Chicago and they married in 1915. Together, they worked on murals, including local examples at mortuaries in Santa Paula and Fillmore.

Apart, they veered in separate directions. Jessie's extravagant and popular aviary paintings, bedecked in gold leaf and created from an iridescent palette, teem with sensuality and flourish. In contrast, Cornelius' work is of a more austere, muted sort.

Etching was Cornelius' primary medium. His fastidious craftsmanship and attention to detail, along with a romantic appreciation of landscape, are invitingly explored in "The Etchings of Cornelius Botke," at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art through the end of the year.

Curated by the museum's Tim Schiffer, the show celebrates product and process, including preliminary drawings, photographs and a display of tools of the etching trade. A bold presentation consisting of 86 works -- the first time all these pieces have been gathered in one public showing -- this exhibition dignifies the museum's often fragile, dual mandate of celebrating both history and art.

While the images here represent Botke's various travels in Europe as well as in Carmel and other corners of Northern California, a sizable number of pieces hit home. Home for the Botkes was the rural enclave of Wheeler Canyon in Santa Paula. There, they lived, worked and raised a family on ranch land that was also home to fruit trees, poultry and peacocks -- in-house models for Jessie's work.

In the gallery, we see Cornelius, bespectacled and intent at his etching press, in a '30s-era photograph taken by another Ventura County-connected luminary, Horace Bristol. Bristol, who spent early years in Ventura County and now lives in Ojai, became well-known for his evocative Depression-era photojournalism, including a project on migrant farm workers, which reportedly inspired John Steinbeck to write "Grapes of Wrath."

Botke, too, shows an agrarian instinct and a WPA-like pictorial sensibility in many of these works. In "Haybalers," theme and muscle are provided by the artist's son William, whose pitchfork is at the vortex of visual energy.

"Plow Team," dating from 1936, is a heroic, yeoman image of Clarence Marshall tilling the soil, with bowing lines reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton's prewar romanticism. The sinewy heave of human labor and the rhythms of the earth are in accord.

Scenes of local note abound here. "Ferndale Ranch" depicts the sprawling plot of land that is now Thomas Aquinas College, outside of Santa Paula. An image of the Santa Paula depot celebrates it as a landmark of relative antiquity.

"Artist's Barn" commemorates the influential Fillmore gallery and gathering place for the resident art community. But, via Botke's eye, the point of focus is not so much the gallery itself, but the pepper tree outside.

Trees were an obvious subject of interest for Botke, almost to the point of obsession. No doubt, for an artist of Botke's exacting eye and hand, trees presented a challenge of depicting both formal sweep and detailed leafage.

In "Grandma's Backyard," for instance, the yard in question is viewed from a bird's-eye, treetop perspective. His Carmel images often played up the gnarled, weeping forms of Monterey pines.

Also seen here are images of old mining towns, in which the isolated clutches of buildings against bleak surrounding terrain make for ripe studies in contrast.

Botke, who died in 1954, left a strong body of work that rewards close-up attention. If detached from the conceptual flow and restless fashion of modernism, his art now basks in a wistful glow and has the appeal of a well-crafted medium. ART WALKABOUT

Although last Friday's Ventura Artwalk didn't draw the kindly hordes of last summer's event, it was nonetheless another successful celebration of the diversity to be found in the artistic outlets downtown.

Between the Botke show at the museum, potter's guild wares at the Buenaventura Gallery and works by patients at the Turning Point Foundation (that organization's first involvement in an Artwalk), art took on many faces and attitudes.

Holding forth dauntlessly on the literal and figurative fringes is the marginal-but-mighty Art City II, now celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The current show of mostly 3-D works in its gallery ranges from Dan Cayman's rusty metal menagerie of apocryphal creatures to Art City "mayor" Paul Lindhard's sleeker marble inventions, and M.B. Hanrahan's ironic assemblage, "Trophies" -- re: the art object as trophy. Alexandra Morosco's "Vision Within the Yucca" is a crucifixion of an intriguingly unorthodox sort, evoking Christ's body with shards of alabaster on a wooden cross and a bronze crown of thorns.

Random Artwalk notes: K.R. Martindale's had the best spread of food and drink, not to mention some eye-catching works by Michael Kelly. . . . Best Romanticized Vision of Domesticity award goes to watercolorist Jennie Snyder for her elliptically cropped home scenes, fittingly hung in Danica House.

Deaf and blind sculptor Chris Cook demonstrated his work in the window of the Ventura Bookstore, earning the best window display award at City Hall.

Another standout among the window display entries was Paul Benavidez's ambitious installation at the Performance Studio. "The Changing Paradigm" is a huge blue egg in a distorted stage-like setting, exerting a surreal, mutating presence. This is the kind of work that gives public art a good name. Details

* THE ETCHINGS OF CORNELIUS BOTKE, through December at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, 100 E. Main St. in Ventura; 653-0323.

* GROUP SHOW at Art City II, 31 Peking St. in Ventura; 648-1690.

* PAUL BENAVIDEZ'S "The Changing Paradigm," in the window at the Performance Studio, 34 Palm St. in Ventura; 643-5701.

What do hair curlers, Teddy Bears and Marines have in common? Just keep readin' to find out.

The K-HAY country radio early-bird audience is familiar with the perpetual Burns-and-Allen shtick between on-air personality Ray Taylor and his sidekick, Charlye Parker. On weekdays Taylor delights listeners with remarks about Parker's personal life, erratic arrival times and her latest penchant -- wearing hair curlers to work.

But until last week he never invited listeners to drop by the station to experience the sight for themselves. It's radio, don't forget, so they can show up in in their PJ's and we wouldn't know the difference.

But all bets are off since the deejays kicked off K-HAY's sixth annual Toys for Tots drive last week. And Heckle and Jeckle have added a new, interactive twist to the popular morning drive time format.

"Because of the generosity of our country listening audience, we are the only people in the U.S. that exceeded the need-for-toys figure set for the Ventura County community," said Taylor, who spearheads the annual campaign.

And they don't plan to fall short this year. So don't be surprised if you hear your name on the radio thanks to a well-intentioned brother-in-law's challenge pledge.

"People call in a pledge and challenge others in their line of work to match or beat it," said Parker. "For example, (local country musician) Darlene O'Connell made a pledge and challenged all entertainers to meet it. And Troy Robinson of Caught Red Handed called in and exceeded it."

But back to Parker's hair curlers.

Since Taylor's 5 a.m. inducement to visit, listeners have been coming by with toy or cash donations.

"There's a family that brings in a new boy's and a new girl's bike every year," said Parker. "And in another household, the kids make their wish lists. And then each child picks one thing from the list to donate to instead of getting it for themselves."

The toys must be new and unwrapped so they can be properly directed to a child. And, of course, the jocks welcome cash, checks or money orders for their annual toy shopping spree. So get your toys or cash to K-HAY by 5 p.m. on Dec. 23 to allow time to buy and transport the toys.

That's where the Marines come in. But they can use volunteers to help at the warehouse.

Don't wait 'til the last minute if you'd like to participate. Just come by the station between noon and 3 p.m. on Dec. 17 for the annual K-HAY toy drive party.

Darlene O'Connell & the Dixie Flyers will entertain with great country tunes. While the Marines load the trucks, the kids can climb all over the Humvees that will be on display. All the K-HAY jocks will be there, including the new guy, Dave Bradley.

And who knows? While fiddler Tom Ricardo plays his hot version of "Devil Went Down to Georgia," maybe someone will teach Bradley the ten-step. Details

* WHAT: Toys for Tots Collection Drive.

* WHO: Darlene O'Connell & the Dixie Flyers, K-HAY deejays and the U.S. Marines.

* WHEN: noon to 3 p.m., Dec. 17.

* WHERE: K-HAY radio station parking lot, 3897 Market St., Ventura.

* CALL: 642-8595.

A curious dichotomy is occurring within the American psyche. While voters became cranky and bitter about social welfare programs and embraced negative political campaigns, they also were scooping up books about angels, soul awareness, after-death "I-saw-a-heavenly-light" experiences and spiritual aphorisms. According to local booksellers, these titles are "flying out the door," and customers flock to meet authors who have attained celebrity status.

Santa Barbara resident Marianne Williamson is one of those authors. She will sign her new book "Illuminata," subtitled "Thoughts, Prayers, Rites of Passage," at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Ventura Bookstore, 522 E. Main St. Her first book, "A Return to Love," was on the bestseller list for 35 weeks in 1992 and with over 2 million copies in print was the fifth best-selling book in America that year. Her second title, "A Woman's Worth," remained on bestseller lists for five months this year. Williamson has been lecturing professionally on spirituality and metaphysics since 1983.

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Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, is planning a double header. Robert Campbell, whose fourth novel "Wizard of La-La-Land" features Isaac Canaan, the cop who never sleeps, will be at the bookstore at 1 p.m. Saturday with Robert Irvine, whose new mystery "The Hosanna Shout" continues the adventures of Salt Lake City private detective Moroni Traveler.

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Local poet Joyce Lombard will read her own work and also read from the new anthology, "I am Becoming the Woman I've Wanted," the latest in the series that began with the best-selling "When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple," at 2 p.m. Saturday, Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura.

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Gerald McDermott, Caldecott Award-winning author/illustrator, will share stories from his latest book "Coyote" at 3 p.m. Saturday at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura.

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The Ojai Table of Contents, 208 E. Ojai Ave., will host two authors at champagne receptions this week. Jerry Dunn, author of "Tricks of the Trade for Kids," will sign at 4 p.m. Saturday. His book is written for 8- to 15-year-olds and features 50 experts who reveal their secrets. Contributors include Arnold Schwarzenegger on building biceps, Sergio Aragones on cartooning and a National Geographic photographer on how to take great vacation pictures.

Reanne Hemingway-Douglass will be at the bookstore at 4 p.m. Tuesday to sign "Cape Horn, One Man's Dream, One Woman's Nightmare," a true tale of how she and her husband, Don, survived storms and shipwreck while trying to sail around Cape Horn.

"The Best Town Ever" reads the marquee of the Towne Theater, smack dab in the middle of downtown Fillmore. This is no idle boast, but a sign of reconstruction.

A closer look behind the plywood barricades and chain-link fence separating citizens from the theater reveals an edifice shaken from its moorings. The marquee itself, once free-standing and held fast by cables connected to the facade, is now propped up on makeshift pillars. One corner of the exterior has crumbled away, exposing framing and a rusty I-beam.

Another sign of hope adorns the barrier outside the theater, reading "SAVE THE TOWNE THEATER! We need your help. Please donate. Call: 524-3701."

The cause of the problem, you'll recall, was the devastating Northridge earthquake last Jan. 17. Much of Fillmore's historic Central Avenue area, with buildings dating to the early part of the century, was badly damaged by the quake. The dreaded red tags, declaring a building unsafe for occupancy, lined the trail of deconstruction.

But the unfolding saga of the Towne Theater is one of the most heartening emblems of a will to survive here. Across the street, a large vacant lot looks like a gaping hole in the downtown's once-impressive fabric, much like the vacant lots still speckling downtown Santa Cruz subsequent to its 1989 quake.

And, for a time, it looked as though the theater property, too, would wind up a patch of dirt.

After the quake, the theater's previous owner, Dale Larson, decided he couldn't afford to repair the damaged structure and planned to demolish it. But the city came to the rescue.

Last spring, Fillmore's Redevelopment Agency used funds to acquire the property and applied for state grant funds to save the building. A $450,000 grant from the State Historic Restoration Office assured continuation of the current reconstruction project.

As City Manager Roy Payne explained, "There were some other buildings that were demolished as a result of earthquake damage, but they were not considered community structures and didn't have the same kind of emotional appeal as the theater did. Beyond that, we have a very limited amount of resources, so we had to prioritize what we would try to save."

In a sense, the theater has been at the heart of this small town, literally and figuratively, for much of its official existence. In an era of strip malls, franchises and multiplexes, Fillmore's downtown area and its central theater, in particular, have remained symbols of an earlier time.

"Let's face it, Small Town USA is not around much anymore, especially within driving distance of Los Angeles," said Fillmore's Fire Chief Pat Askren. Askren led a hard-hat tour through the old theater, which still looks as though a storm recently hit it.

An eerie stillness and confusion hangs over the darkened facility. Debris on the lobby floor includes stray pieces of film stock. A very stale batch of popcorn still sits in the popper, made the night before the quake.

We went downstairs below the stage, where small dressing rooms, long unused, once housed vaudeville performers.

A small-town movie house can play a sentimental role in the life of its citizens. Askren, who grew up in Fillmore, waxed nostalgic as we rummaged through old theater-chair parts and arc lights stored below.

"I used to come here as a kid in the '50s. Then, it was a quarter to get in, and you saw two movies and a cartoon," he said.

At the moment, a contractor is going through a process of stabilizing and weather-protecting the building, and an architect is doing historical research to determine in which stylistic direction to proceed. According to Payne, "That's the first step, and then they'll come up with a retrofit and restoration plan."

Using the state grant, Payne said, "we think will get the building retrofitted and safe for occupancy again. But of all the improvements, getting it back in operation as a movie theater is the objective that the committee has."

That committee is the local citizen group called "Save the Towne Theater," which is planning fund-raising projects. Part of the plan involves appealing to Hollywood, which has often capitalized on Fillmore's charms as a location. There will be an auction early next year of movie memorabilia autographed by celebrities.

Payne hopes the theater will be open and screening movies by August. Beyond that, there are plans to use the theater for other artistic and community uses. Local theater productions, concerts and community meetings could be accommodated here.

"When it initially opened in 1915, it was a vaudeville theater," Payne commented. "There is a stage in there; it's been used for many years simply as a movie house. Now that it's in public ownership, we have plans to make it more of a community-use facility rather than just a movie house."

It has been a slow recovery, but Fillmore is very much on the mend. Bricks from demolished buildings have been saved and offered free to those involved in restorations. Zoning ordinances will require new buildings to adapt to established parameters of vintage architectural style.

There, at last, lies a positive side effect of January's disaster. An act of God changed the face of Fillmore, but now acts of locals are engaged in rebuilding and reshaping their town.

"The city is bound and determined to come back," Askren said. Nowhere is that spirit more evident than at the Towne.

Anyone who has walked the full length of the Ventura Pier has bumped into it: the giant copper tube running up from the decking and twisting around like a pretzel, shooting sprays of water sometimes 10 feet straight up into the air.

It's not an industrial turbine, which it seems to evoke. Neither is it a length of exhaust pipe from a grand old ship, even though it could have been pulled straight from the deck of a 50-year-old steamer.

No, it's art. Conceptual art. Site-specific art. And whether you like it or not, it's public art.

Taxpayers spent $80,000 on this piece, titled "Wavespout," to cap off a massive restoration of the pier. It was designed by San Francisco artist Ned Kahn to "blue-sky" specifications set by the city of Ventura: Simply create something that would engage passersby in the maritime environment.

The water bursts are in sync with ocean waves below. The copper medium is of a maritime age that put Ventura on the map. The thing itself is an enticement to people to make use of the pier.

"Wavespout" is the premier artwork in a young program to create public art in Ventura. Its daring defines the city's view of what constitutes public art.

Ventura is but one of three cities in Ventura County to recently join a national trend toward fostering public art, which began in America's urban centers in the 1970s with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Yet the city is singular in its approach.

Thousand Oaks and Oxnard have programs in place, but their approaches to creating public art are different, from each other's as well as Ventura's.

Art seems to do that. It divides opinion, brings into focus the way a community sees itself and calls into question why art is needed in the first place. In Ventura, Thousand Oaks and Oxnard, the artwork and the method of creating it reveal the distinctly different communities.

Take Thousand Oaks. Anyone who has visited the Goebel Senior Center there has bumped into the "people," seated on the bench to the left of the front door. An elderly man reads to a young girl while a teen-age boy, baseball cap in place, beams happily at them. The people don't move, however. They're cast in bronze, right down to wrinkles on the nose.

The replication of life and relationship is so convincing as to make this a 3-D Norman Rockwell, an intergenerational feel-good installation if there ever was one.

But that's how Thousand Oaks wanted it. No provocations. No scratching of heads. Nobody thinking, we spent how much on this? (Taxpayers shelled out $40,000). Without the abstracted challenges of "Wavespout," this piece, by Colorado artist Ann LaRose, seems to please everyone instantly. Then again, it might be forgotten much faster than "Wavespout." It depends on how you like your art.

It wasn't easy for Thousand Oaks to get it so "right." The artist submissions for the piece in the first round were entirely abstract -- a phenomenon that sent an apoplectic City Council back to chambers to start over by sending out more conservative specifications.

Even in the second round, which brought in realistic and figurative sculptures, small-scale models by finalists were placed on display at the Thousand Oaks Public Library for a popular vote. You offend the fewest people that way.

Consider, finally, Oxnard.

Anyone who has entered the Oxnard Town Center off Ventura Boulevard near the Ventura Freeway has bumped into "Flight of Fish." It's a field of flying fish made from metal cutouts and mounted on poles rising above a shallow water pool. The fish are coated with reflective "scales" and as they spin in the wind they change color wildly and take on depth, as if moving in a school.

Also consider that Oxnard, which leads Ventura County hands-down in the quantity of public art, didn't charge taxpayers one cent for this highly successful installation by artist Sally Weber. Instead it got the developer of Oxnard Town Center to pay the estimated $30,000 cost.

Oxnard's view is that government is stretched too thin already to be paying for art, nice as it is. So it has a resolution in place urging private developers of projects exceeding 100,000 square feet to contribute 1% of costs to the placement of suitable public art.

"Suitable" means that a committee appointed by the council must review and approve any art offered for placement -- a developer can't just go do anything because he or she is spending money on it.

This came into play recently along 3rd Street in La Colonia. There, a major industrial taxpayer, Terminal Freezers, sought to meet its art obligation by painting a wall outside its new warehouse with abstract depictions of freezer compressors. Sanely, the city said no.

In response to the proddings of cultural arts director Andrew Voth, Terminal commissioned Philadelphia artist Frank Hyder to conceive and install a symbolic and storytelling mural.

The mural, mounted in six 4-by-8-foot painted tile panels, is a lush narrative view of the ethnicities and natural resources of this historically agrarian community. It is easily among the finest and most compelling pieces of public art in Ventura County, but has hardly been seen. Whether it is entirely successful in its placement is another story (see below). INDIVIDUAL TASTES

The subject of public art has always confounded cultures. Some medieval Romans thought fountains got in the way of city commerce; others thought Christian frescoes were intrusive, even fascistic.

New Yorkers still reel when the subject turns to Richard Serra's "Tilted Arc," a wall of rusted steel that, upon installation in the 1980s, bifurcated the courtyard behind a downtown Manhattan federal building and had to be removed in the face of protest. It seems the arc looked great from the 15th floor but otherwise blocked office workers from getting to their favored lunch and coffee-break perches. Aesthetics has always taken a back seat to hunger.

And only this fall, Culver City was in heated debate about whether its ordinance requiring developers to pay a percentage for public art could be altered to allow the architectural design of the building to satisfy public art requirements.

In fancier projects, this would make the building itself into the artwork -- raising the question of whether architecture can actually be art.

Things in Ventura County, by contrast, have been far less fractious, though some did challenge the propriety of paying art subsidy funds to architect Antoine Predock. (Thousand Oaks allowed its 1%-for-art on the new Civic Arts Plaza to go to Predock for a building that features a pictograph wall.) For the most part, city programs creating art have been cautious, slow to evolve and true to local turf. If the city of Ventura is at times a maverick and bold in its approach, Thousand Oaks is unwaveringly pragmatic and Oxnard unapologetically opportunistic.

The good news is that no matter the method, art -- along with spiritual matters, the thing that dignifies life -- is being created for a public burdened by the grind of modern life. Individual tastes are just that, but what follows is a city-by-city review of major pieces of public art under way and in place.

Simi Valley declines to require developers or the city to produce public art. Camarillo, too, is without a program, but a planner there makes clear that the city is so highly regulated in its land-use and architectural stylings that officials prefer that any money earmarked for art go into quality buildings and extensive landscaping. OXNARD

Oxnard is jammed with art that developers have installed. That's good because it dresses up and brings human scale to some large properties, both commercial and industrial. But that winsome quality is sometimes lost in the industrial-park setting, since people have no reason to visit unless they work there. That is a limiting factor inherent in privately funded public art.

Not all of the work is successful. Most baffling of all is a series of light-refracting columns titled "Connections," by Robert Behrens, in Told Corp.'s Channel Islands Business Center. These tall black poles along Channel Islands Boulevard lose what coherence and relevance they might have had from the competing nearby telephone poles and recent construction of buildings around them. They simply stick up from the ground, begging the question: What on earth are these things?

And some works by famous artists are, if you will, from their Grade B collections. Hal Pastorius' geometric sculpture "Cube Root," situated within the Sares/Regis Business Center off Rice Avenue at Gonzales Road, plainly lacks the play of dimension and engagement of his other work, and fails to speak to the building it fronts. Simply plopped in place, it can only be called "plop art."

Much of Oxnard's public art, however, is rich, vivid and engaging. Frank Hyder's mural outside Terminal Freezers Inc. on 3rd Street in La Colonia is truly first-rate: Painted and fired ceramic tile panels form a "canvas" that features startling fish, boats and human hands of varying hues. The colors are luminous, the strokes bold and raw and in places impressionistic.

The indigenous narrative content is reverential without becoming Hallmark-card sentimental. Sadly, it's tough to take stock of this beauty while doing 40 m.p.h. on busy 3rd Street, and the only people on foot in these parts are schoolchildren heading home (not one looked up on a recent weekday.)

Sally Weber's holographic "Flight of Fish" at the Oxnard Town Center, 1000 Town Center Drive, is at first glance a shameless, decorative crowd pleaser. But its ability to manipulate space -- get the viewer to feel as if he is snorkeling -- is testimony to its transformative power. (If a few fish are missing, it's because they're becoming popular among nighttime vandals.)

Rafe Affleck's fountain sculpture at the entrance of Oxnard Financial Plaza at Vineyard Avenue and Oxnard Boulevard is a winner: Simple bold curls of stainless steel continue their shape in flowing water, all on a large scale.

Arthur Silverman's "Sails," a brushed aluminum sculpture at Vineyard Plaza Shopping Center at Vineyard Avenue and Oxnard Boulevard, might be considered nautical kitsch by some but is instead a smartly done thematic sailboat sculpture -- if you can see it through all the cars in the parking lot.

A kinetic aluminum sculpture "Flight," by Lin Emery at the Chevron building in Sares/Regis Business Center, is as bracing as it is engaging, offering one instance in which an industrial park setting seems just right.

Art City sculptor Paul Lindhard is busy with Oxnard commissions, striking among them "Venus of Oxnard," a travertine marble sculpture at the McGrath Industrial Park near Gonzales Road and Rose Avenue.

Recent commercial developments in Oxnard show a new realism and accessibility in the public art that gets placed. This owes in part to the developers but even more to the panel that chooses the work. The Rose shopping center on Rose Avenue near the Ventura Freeway is a case in point.

Originally, the developer wanted to install a series of 30-foot-tall steel cutouts along the main entrance corridor. It was plain to Oxnard officials that such an approach was conceived as a way to get the most bang for the art buck; cutouts are easy to do, especially if you have the steel in a storage yard. Efficiencies are fine, but there seemed no particular point of reference in the work, no level of engagement that was of the place.

So Andrew Voth and others were dispatched to prod. The result is probably the most popular and most-seen artwork in Oxnard: Mario Nardini's "Ocean Serendipity," a group of bronze leaping dolphins at the center's entrance, coupled with three life-size human sculptures by Gary Alsum near store entrances.

These human sculptures -- a boy on stilts, children leapfrogging one another and children in a running race -- are modern culture's most common images, yet never fail to attract a disbelieving and affectionate crowd.

The one shopping center that is an unqualified artistic flop is the new Oxnard Factory Outlet Center, at the Ventura Freeway between Rose and Rice avenues. Oxnard had competed with Camarillo for the stores, and whichever city could accommodate the developers fastest landed the big fish, as it were. Oxnard won, and in its zeal for victory made its art requirements so relaxed as to be virtually waived -- that is, unless you consider a faux water tower and faux windmill to be somehow related to art. Aesthetics not only bow to hunger but to the economy.

Still, art seeks a broadened base here. An ordinance is being drafted for the just-elected City Council to consider in the new year. It would require that public building projects -- not just private developers -- budget 1% of their expenditures for public art. THOUSAND OAKS

That's exactly what Thousand Oaks does -- require 1% of public project expenditures be set aside for art. Private sector executives in this master-planned city made it clear at a mayor's business round-table earlier this year they wanted no resolutions or ordinances that required private developers to commission and site public art. This stems in part from a previous legal challenge here to any such requirement and also a difficult economy in a highly regulated city.

Some of the city's noted businesses and institutions -- GTE, Exxon and Cal Lutheran University -- feature prominent displays of art and do so without prompting by the city. But public art in this town is really that which is created by the city for city buildings.

It is slow going. The first piece commissioned under the 1% rule -- Ann LaRose's lifelike bronze figures in front of the Goebel Senior Center on Janss Road near the Moorpark Freeway -- took two years in the selection, commissioning and placement.

Carol Williams, who coordinates the art-in-public places projects for Thousand Oaks, says: "It was universally felt that we needed a first piece that everybody could learn to love. We never hear anything negative about it. Because this one is so successful, we may branch out more. And we won't have that many more chances, because we're not going to build so many more buildings."

And the projects that will come up -- and with them the artwork that dignifies them -- will be ever smaller. Next on the docket is a $10,000 commission for the city's new maintenance facility off Rancho Conejo.

LaRose's bronze people on the bench are worth seeing as part of an American art movement in the last 15 years that seeks to engage at a neo-realistic, theatrical level. The pieces play on perception (the figures are hauntingly real) and a sense of dramatic encounter (although still, the figures relate to one another).

Their trick is that they are utterly familiar yet alien. It is a pleasing art, certainly, but slim on challenge; its Norman Rockwellism confirms the way we hope for things to be, rather than jiggle our belief and sensibility.

More diverting is a nearby mural, in the public library's children's section. While not part of the city's program, this 1987 creation by Bradley W. Schenk certainly is a dominant piece of public art for Thousand Oaks.

Large (nearly 14 feet high at one point and over 20 feet long) and powerful (its images are beautifully wrought and powerfully arranged in juxtaposition), it is narrative and delightfully propagandist in that it promotes reading. Miriam from I. B. Singer's "The Golem" sits near Water Rat, Toad, Mole and Badger from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" -- and they join a surreal cast of perhaps a dozen more. It's an adult fantasia as well as a kid's -- a terrifically engaging piece.

What the Thousand Oaks sculpture and mural do best of all, however, is bear up, with fearful symmetry, to coordinator Williams' explanation of why art is necessary in the first place: "It states who we are and where we're coming from." VENTURA

No sooner did Ventura get Ned Kahn's "Wavespout" installed at the end of its refurbished pier than it went off commissioning yet another noted artist to again engage people about sense of place.

This time the city, which charges itself a hefty 2% on public projects and requires nothing of private developers, is focusing on oceanfront/downtown redevelopment. An open plaza at the base of California street between the Holiday Inn and a city parking garage is being torn up and redesigned.

Los Angeles sculptor Mark Lere won the $15,000-plus job of consulting with the project architect and designing a suitable artwork for placement at the base of the plaza overlooking the sea. But Lere found that mandate inappropriate, deciding that sight lines to the sea needed to be unimpeded and fearing a "plop art" result. Ventura's reflex to keep all possibilities open gave Lere room to move.

The result: He is designing back-lit steel panels that will be built into the walkways of the plaza and feature word blocks within giant symbols of the senses -- an ear, eye, nose. The idea, he says, is to involve people with written and visual messages to have them think of the sea and the city through the senses that are enlivened by that specific beachside site.

"Public art is not designing a necklace for a done project," he says. "It has to be connected. In this case, you'll smell the ocean and see City Hall, but in doing so it must be fun. You've gotta have a catch."

Sonia Tower, Ventura's cultural arts director, is even more plain on the point. She cites the sameness of America's cities that, in a great wave of compulsion in the 1970s and early 1980s, purchased Alexander Calder mobiles and Henry Moore sculptures for their public art.

"That's not us," she says with a broad smile. "We seek something unique, something that provides an interpretation of the actual space and place you're in. 'Wavespout' does that, though some have complained. Mark (Lere) will do that on California Street. Real art is thought-provoking."

While the California Street plaza takes shape, consider the one piece of public art in Ventura that predates all city efforts at nurturing culture -- and the one that, ironically, may meet the goals of public art as well or better than anything yet displayed in these parts: the wraparound mural at the U.S. Post Office on Santa Clara Street.

A classic of the Works Progress Administration style, this soft-hued depiction of rural agrarian, coastal living is at once naif in its two-dimensional, primitive execution and profoundly complete in its emotional range. Few works of public art can be so accessible and resonant at the same time, so warmly evocative yet thought-provoking.

It seems certain from the range of it that the artist, Gordon Grant, had sufficiently free reign in 1936 to tell his story without having to bow to panel or commission. Of course, those public art days are pretty much over, and we are in a new age of confirming belief or challenging perception.

It all depends upon where you are.

Building a movie theater is a lot like producing a film. There are swarms of people involved, it costs an unimaginable amount of money, and the product is finished just in the nick of time.

Deadlines have been very much on the minds of the people working at the county's newest movie theater, the Edwards Camarillo Palace 12.

There was plenty to do within the 12-screen multiplex. One week ago the seats weren't even installed in any of the theaters. The 80-foot-long concession stand was a dissembled jumble of stainless steel, and the enormous lobby that owner Edwards Cinemas is so proud of looked like a warehouse.

To make the deadline for the VIP opening today and the public opening Friday, crews have been working around the clock all week.

"It's a race, but every opening I worked on was like this," said Kurt Macfarlane, director of engineering for Edwards. "We always make it in time."

The huge 56,000-square-foot facility located on the south side of the Ventura Freeway between Las Posas Road and Carmen Drive looks good even half assembled. Large curved vinyl screens stretch from wall to wall in each theater, and projection units have big burly sound systems.

"Each one of these booths cost $560,000," Macfarlane said. "That's just for projection and sound. Every one has a couple kinds of digital stereo, DTS and SRD. That's the Dolby system. We're negotiating with Sony to include their digital system also."

The selection of films the cinema will show is something the bookers for Edwards are going to experiment with, according to Michael Tiemeyer, director of operations.

"Of course we're going to have the first runs and regular releases," he said.

"But it's up to the community as to what they want. If they support art films, we'll do it. We've got a theater in Orange County that shows only art films."

The selection of films should be pretty orthodox through the holiday and into the summer season. That's when the United Artist theater is scheduled to open, also in Camarillo.

Two theaters in the same town means they will be competing for prints of the dozen or so major motion pictures Hollywood has in release at any given time.

"When UA opens, it will become more of a horse race," Tiemeyer said. The offerings might become a little more non-traditional. "Until then we'll have mostly major releases."

Don't need no copy of Vogue magazine;

Don't need to dress like no beauty queen

-- from My Baby Loves Me, by Martina McBride

One of the hardest things about choosing a wardrobe in the '90s is trying to keep clothing PC and FC at the same time. Politically correct and fashionably correct.

We've put a lot of effort into this matter and, frankly, we are having a hard time getting dressed. Why can't designers get with the program, so shopping can be a little bit simpler? It makes you wonder if they are in touch with the decade. I mean, are they checking out the eco mags, or do they just stick with Womens Wear Daily?

Like, makeup is FC. The wholesome look, with hair mousse only? It's history. The glam syndrome is back in spades -- or, diamonds.

So we dropped over to the mall to lay in some electric lipstick, charcoal shadow, iridescent mascara and those new gold face stick-ons. . . .

But we started flashing on those confounded bunnies, you know? It's not PC to wear rabbit-tested stuff. There are all these rabbits out there who are acting -- excuse the expression -- as guinea pigs. Cosmetics are checked for toxins by putting them in their eyes. If the rabbit can't take it, they wipe out the mascara formula. And possibly the rabbit.

Well, someone's got to do it. I mean, Gov. Pete Wilson was real firm on the issue. There was this bill to keep rabbits from involuntary servitude, because they probably wouldn't choose to give their lives to science, let alone vanity. But the governor said, in essence, that better a bunny than us, right?

Well, it turns out that there are all these rabbit fans who watch the news. They said rabbits can't speak for themselves, which, when you think about it, is hard to dispute. They started marching around in regiments until a lot of makeup manufacturers figured that the jig was up.

So they gave up their hostages, uh, rabbits and are using test-tube proteins or something. And now, to be PC, we have to carry a list of manufacturers' names around when we shop. And when we find a lipstick to match a nail enamel, we should refer to the list! I mean, is that a practical use of our lunch hours? It's a long list.

And that's only the tip of the steamer trunk.

Like, what are the going (FC) colors this season? Are they easy-on-the-planet vegetable dyes, which we have been alerted to watch for? Or the unbleached-fiber look an eco-hipster would flaunt? Hardly; the big news is jewel tones. Like magenta, deep emerald and royal blue, colors that no self-respecting vegetable ever thought to come in.

And, how about fur? What could be less PC than wearing fur from forest friends who have spent the night in a steel trap -- or a lifetime in a maximum-security cage, after which they are, well, electrocuted?

Hey, we've seen those Wild Kingdom films.

But how can we pass up those rad coats that are flooding the fashion scene? There's more fur in the mall this season than in Los Padres. And it's not faux; it's real fur, like foxes wear. In fact, they did.

Gosh, we're torn here. After all, we've been told that thinning out forest friends keeps the rest healthy. And the caged critters were raised to be pelts. Like Christmas trees. They wouldn't be there if it they weren't planned for, uh, harvesting.

Anyway, fur is not being flaunted here. It's just trims. Think of all the foxes that will save compared to a whole coat of them. Besides, it's natural. Making faux fur pollutes streams.

A coat without either kind of fur? That would be boring -- and so would we.

But, while we're at it, let's check out a subtler issue. There's something a lot more rampant than fur in the shops. It's the '90s answer to synthetics, from underwear to ski wear, from the office to the trail.

It's silk! Nubby, slubby or shiny -- it's out there in force. It's real hard to get more fashionably correct than silk. And it, too, owns that happy adjective: natural.

So, we're ready to load up on it. After all, those are worms , you know? It's pretty hard to relate to a worm.

All right, they're put to death. But they're not electrocuted -- they're simply steamed over the great divide.

And if you set them loose, just what would they do with their freedom, being caterpillars and all? They'd turn into moths, fly around for a couple of weeks and cash out as decrepit oldster moths, that's what. And leave enough eggs to wipe out acres of mulberries.

So, what do you say we get out there and support the silk industry? I mean, if you can't exploit worms, just whom can you exploit?

This fall, a local equivalent of the spotted owl controversy came to public notice in Ventura County. But in this case, the endangered animal is the steelhead trout, a relative of the salmon. And the threatened habitat is not the woods but the rivers -- the Santa Clara and the Ventura.

The local argument is about our water-use habits. And many of the people involved are joining a common cause. Folks who want to save the endangered fish have gotten together with folks who want someday to eat the endangered fish.

Connor Everts, a director of the Casitas Water District and the Ojai Sanitation District, is a fishing enthusiast. He also advocates conservation and recycling, rather than dams, as the best ways to manage the local water supply.

"Salmon and steelhead used to run (in the Ventura River) through downtown Ojai," Everts said. "My grandfather used to catch them. When I was 8, I could still catch them near the Matilija Dam."

Everts is one of many local officials who believe that the presence or absence of the steelhead trout in our local rivers is a sign of the health -- or ill health -- of the environment. "It's like the canary singing in the mine -- a sign that the atmosphere is good for the people working there," he said. "If it dies, the situation is going bad."

Water officials such as Everts have choices when providing water for showers and sprinklers. They can take water out of rivers or catch water behind dams. Or, as they sometimes have in this county, they can promote conservation. They can also build facilities to enable the reuse of waste water for outdoor purposes, as Thousand Oaks is doing.

Conservation and recycling allow more water to be left in rivers for nature's purpose -- such as a habitat for fish.

Jim Adams, a manager with the California Department of Fish and Game in Fillmore, has been monitoring developments in our county from the perspective of a game warden. According to Adams, providing ways for the steelhead to get around local dams as well as moderating the amount of freshwater drawn from local underground and surface rivers have produced "some very good news. The steelhead have always been here, but the run was declining. In the spring of '94, we've sighted adults and juvenile fish where they haven't been for years."

Dennis McEwen, the department's steelhead expert in Sacramento, cites urban sprawl, drought, damming and the toxics used on yards and business properties as enemies of the species.

"When you build with little consideration for the environment, habitat is lost and you're on the brink of extinction," he said. "That goes for people too."

McEwen is the author of a forthcoming report, "The Steelhead Management Plan For California," which links the health of our local rivers with the fate of this fish. Groups -- including members of sportfishing clubs -- worried about water quality and supply have lobbied Sacramento since the '70s to create a statewide plan to restore the animal's habitat in Southern California.

California Trout, a statewide organization affiliated with local clubs like the Conejo Valley Fly Fishers, Camarillo Fishing Club and the Sespe Fly Fishers, is a booster of the idea. Nowadays, steelhead can legally be caught from June to November -- but you have to drive north of Monterey to find any.

As trout-fishing fans, these folks are cousins of bird watchers. But instead of jotting down sightings, they catch and then release the fish. They also want the species to be brought back from near-extinction in sufficient numbers that they can, eventually, eat some.

McEwen's report, due out next month, will indicate that this won't happen for years. But the place where fishing enthusiasts and game wardens are united is bigger than just a belly full of fish.

"Rivers have many uses," McEwen said. "We need a new ethic of rivers."

California Trout spokesman Jim Edmondson put it this way: "The dream is to restore trout and steelhead resources to what they were in early California. Conservation makes it all possible." Details

* GETTING INVOLVED: Groups working to preserve local rivers for fishing and recreation are Friends of the Santa Clara River (498-4323), Friends of the Ventura River (643-6074), and Keep The Sespe Wild (646-5960.)

* INFORMATION: For a copy of "The Steelhead Management Plan For California," call the California Department of Fish and Game (916) 653-7664. California Trout's number is (818) 951-4015.

So many people go around saying things like "Ho, ho, ho," and "Merrrrry Christmas." Easy enough sentiments to express verbally, but do these folks really mean what they say?

The holiday season can be so high-pressure, high-stress, and high-cost that sometimes things tend to turn tense and serious. The "joy of Christmas" can become the "oh boy of Christmas" really fast.

In hopes of helping everyone stay festive, we chose to stick with the lighter side of the holidays, and last week went shopping for offbeat Christmas items. We visited a couple of shops at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, the It's a Party store in Oakview and Connie's Hallmark in Ventura.

If you're really into goofy, we might save you some time by suggesting that your first stop be the Dapy outlet at The Oaks. Just about everything in the place is a little warped or wacky. For our money, it would be tough to beat the plush Santa hat with reindeer antlers for $15, or the Santa hat with dreadlocks for $22.

Dapy also had several items in the "Rompin' Xmas" line of products. The dancing Santa Clauses, Christmas trees and snowmen move by magnetic force to upbeat Christmas tunes emanating from the battery-operated base of the contraption. These items were selling for $19.95. The store also had a battery-operated "Snoring Santa" (with a really quality snore, by the way, complete with tummy moving up and down) for $24.95.

Now, don't be misled. Just because we fell in love with the Dapy merchandise, doesn't mean they have a monopoly on the holiday weirdness.

At the Joys store, also at The Oaks, we discovered a whole collection of nutcrackers -- one of the more timeless gifts of the season. True, the traditional, uniformed Nutcracker depicted in many a Suite doesn't exactly make one chuckle, but how about a nutcracker that looks like Uncle Sam. Maybe that's not funny either, but it is a little odd. The Nutcracker Sam had red and white pants, a blue military-style coat, and a white hat with a blue stripe and white stars. Cost $10.88, marked down from $21.99. All of the nutcrackers were priced the same.

Joys also had a ceramic, hand-painted Santa Claus-head salt and pepper shaker set for $25.99.

Over in Ventura, at the renovated and significantly larger Connie's Hallmark store, our favorite fun items, were the "Glowing Melody" musical candles priced at $7.95. These candles, shaped like Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, and snowmen, are equipped with light-activated musical chips. When the candle is lit, the chip plays Christmas carols.

The store also had a series of "Squeeze Pals" in stock. Our favorite was the reindeer in jumpsuit and holiday sweater. When you poke its stomach it says, "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year," followed by a chorus of voices singing the line "Santa Claus is coming to town." The reindeer (or Santa, or elf) was priced at $10.95, batteries included.

Finally, how lighthearted can a Christmas really be without a troll? Trolls are still hot items, so you can find them in any number of locations. We particularly liked one we saw at It's a Party. The green-haired guy is dressed in traditional Dickens Christmas style, down to the red scarf and black hat, and is cradling a book of Christmas carols. Price: $8.50.

Now wouldn't some green hair help stamp out the holiday blues?

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On an unrelated note, an Office Depot outlet opened last week at 4371 Telephone Road in Ventura. The stock of office supplies looked comprehensive, as expected, and the store even had a few gift baskets and tins in stock for the holidays.Photo illustration by STEVE OSMAN / Los Angeles Times

If you want a Victorian dose of Christmas, visit Heritage Square in downtown Oxnard this weekend. The restored turn-of-the-century village is all spruced up for the holiday season.

Guides in period costumes are leading tours through five of the decorated homes, once lived in by pioneering Oxnard families. It's a chance to see the interior of these finely crafted homes, which throughout the year are closed during weekend walking tours of the quaint village.

The special tours this weekend are not free, though, like the others. Advance tickets are $10 for adults; $12 at the door. For seniors it's $2 less, and children 6 to 12 can take the tour for $5.

The 45-minute tours are scheduled Thursday and Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m.

Along with a look at the houses, you can sample a dessert buffet. Actors from the Elite Theatre Co., Heritage Square's resident theater group, will tell Christmas stories and perform songs. "Scrooge" will also put in an appearance.

If you've never strolled through Heritage Square, it's a collection of 11 homes, a church, water tower and pump house -- all restored, landscaped and neatly laid out with Disneyland-like flair.

They weren't built there to begin with, however. They are some of the more elegant examples of Oxnard architecture, rounded up from all over the city and moved to the square's downtown location at 7th Street, between South A and B streets. The farthest was six miles away, and the closest, only six blocks.

Heritage Square officially opened in 1991, concluding a six year effort by the city, private investors and the original families to preserve the buildings as a remnant of early Oxnard.

Finally restored on the inside too, the homes are occupied by an assortment of businesses, agencies and groups -- everything from the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce to the Christian Science Reading Room.

For the tours this weekend, the homes-turned-offices have been decked out with lights, Christmas trees, decorative boughs and wreaths, and stockings on the fireplaces. In the Justin Petit Ranch House, a 13-room Queen Anne-style house that serves as the square's centerpiece, a vintage miniature train runs around the Christmas tree. Nearby are turn-of-the-century toys, like a small rocking horse. Stockings, fashioned like elegant boots of the period, hang from the mantel.

Those on the tour will learn about the Petit family and the house, built in 1896 at 1980 E. Wooley Road. The French-born Petit and his wife, Francis Kaufman, raised seven children there. The 7,000-square-foot house has two staircases, seven entrances, seven bedrooms, two parlors, and two maids' quarters. It also holds the distinction of being the first farmhouse in the county to have electricity installed.

"They put everything on this house," said Gary Blum, a Petit descendant who restored the house. It has curved glass windows, ornate detailing, and a paint job involving seven colors.

The other houses on the tour include the Gordon House, a two-story Craftsman-style house built in 1910; the Fry/Puntenney House, a 1903 Queen Anne design with a rounded two-story tower; the Scarlett House, built in 1903, with the best preserved staircase at the square; and the Perkins/Clayberg House, built in 1887 with ornate gables and spindle work.

The walking tours will run every 15 minutes and will include about 25 people. Proceeds will benefit programs at Heritage Square. Details

* WHAT: Victorian House Tours.

* WHERE: Heritage Square, 7th Street, between South A and B, Oxnard.

* WHEN: Thursday and Friday, 6 to 9 p.m; and Saturday and Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m.

* HOW MUCH: Advance tickets for adults are $10; $12 at the door. For seniors, $2 less. Children, ages 6-12, $5.

* FYI: 483-7960. Reservations recommended, but not required.

With Santas beckoning from the malls and stenciled all over store windows, try telling kids that the season means more than Christmas to many people.

But that's the point of "Season of Lights," a production for children that will be staged Monday night at the Newbury Park branch of the Thousand Oaks Library.

It's for children 5 years and older. Best of all, it's free. Two performances are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m.

The show is an offering from the Los Angeles-based Imagination Company Traveling Children's Theater. They've been around 11 years and have performed at the library and other spots in the county before.

"Season of Lights" is one of many programs the group puts on for schoolchildren during the year. According to the troupe's director, Tom Provenzano, the idea behind the show is to tune youngsters into the cultural diversity of the United States, especially California.

The show gets its name because the winter months are loaded with celebrations of one sort or another, many of them using candles and bright lights to fight the darkness and cold.

Using three adult actors, the production focuses on four celebrations, using a mix of singing, dancing and storytelling.

For the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, they tell the story of the Maccabees who fought for religious freedom long ago and how that evolved into lighting the candles on the menorah. Christmas is shown in traditional Mexican style, with luminarias and marionettes. Kwanzaa, the African American tradition started in 1966, is presented through a singing game.

The last holiday during the 40-minute show is the Chinese New Year. That arrives, complete with dragon, which the actors use to bring children from the audience into the show.

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Santa is not only at the malls, he's at the Ventura Harbor. Children can chat with him over breakfast Saturday at Hornblower's Restaurant. Then they can see "Christmas Under the Sea," an underwater version of Christmas performed by Stroud's Puppets.

The kids pancake breakfast from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. is $1.95 and includes treats, a clown show and a treasure hunt. Tickets for the puppet show at 11:30 a.m. are $2. Call 658-2202 for reservations.

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Santa will be chatting with kids in Moorpark too. For the second year, the city is sponsoring home visits by Santa. He'll be knocking on doors Dec. 17 through Dec. 23. Visiting hours are 5:30 to 9:30 on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 9:30 on weekends.

The real McCoy may be free, but this one isn't. This drop-in Santa charges $20 for a 20-minute visit. For information, call the city, 529-6864 Ext. 231.

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If you want a break from all the holiday mania, budding young actors in Thousand Oaks and Santa Paula are presenting productions that put a comical spin on fairy tales.

In Thousand Oaks, the Young Artists Ensemble is doing "Into the Woods," a mangled version of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel and others. The musical, which opened Friday, is running on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 17 at the Conejo Valley Adult School, 1025 Old Farm Road, Thousand Oaks.

Tickets are $6.50. For information and show times, call 499-4355.

In Santa Paula, Hundred Hats Youth Theater is taking some comical liberties with "The Princess and the Pea." It opens Friday and runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 18.

Tickets are $5. The theater is located at 125 S. 7th St. For show times and information, call 525-4645.

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Here's something for the artist in your child. Adventures for Kids bookstore in Ventura is holding a Family Art Day Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Kids can whip up some art projects that have a cultural favor. It's all under the direction of Ventura and Oxnard college students studying early childhood development. Girl Scouts also will be on hand for storytelling. The event runs until 2 p.m., and it's free. Details

* WHAT: "Season of Lights."

* WHEN: Monday, 5 and 7 p.m.

* WHERE: Newbury Park branch of the Thousand Oaks Library, 2331 Borchard Road, Newbury Park.

* CALL: 496-6282

Play a Carl Perkins album at 78 r.p.m. on-board an SST, then set the plane on fire. That pretty much describes the Reverend Horton Heat's approach to rockabilly music. Survivors will be handing out elbows for Christmas presents in the mosh pit at the Friday night show at the Underground in Santa Barbara.

The band started off as a pure rockabilly outfit in 1987, but soon began picking up speed like a tornado roaring across East Texas.

The band tours relentlessly, doing over 200 gigs per year, including side trips to Europe, Australia and anywhere else that will have them. The band is: Jim Heath (the Reverend) playing fast guitar, Jimbo Wallace keeping up on bass, and Patrick (Taz) Bailey backing it up on drums.

The band released a couple of albums on Seattle's Sub Pop label, but the new one, "Liquor in the Front," is on Interscope. The songs touch upon the usual topics -- sin, sex, substance abuse and surf. "I Can't Surf" croons the Reverend, not a surprising confession for a Texan. The Reverend made further revelations during a phone interview.

You could've been an admiral, a senator, even the Pope, but why a Reverend?

There used to be this club owner who used to give everybody nicknames, and he started calling me "Horton." At the time, I lived in this old place with a bunch of big old rats. So one night this guy tells me I can have a gig at his place if he can call me "Horton Heat." My name is Heath, so he just dropped the "h," but I would've done anything -- I was living with a bunch of rats. Hey man, I would've gotten "Horton Heat" tattooed on my forehead; besides, he already had the posters printed up with "Rev. Horton Heat" on them. After that, I started getting wild on stage, sermonizing and all that.

What's the difference going from a small label to a big label?

To us, it doesn't really matter. We play a lot, we tour a lot, but they can handle things and it seems like there's a Warner Bros. person in every town on the planet. I'm doing a lot more interviews now, like this one for The Times.

Is rockabilly about as popular as it was in the '50s?

It's getting bigger -- maybe because of us -- I don't know. Rockabilly was the first punk rock music. There was nothing crazier and more punk rock than Jerry Lee Lewis in the mid- and late-'50s. It's just loud and fast. It goes. That's what people want -- they want to be entertained.

Do the punkers and the country-Western crowd get along in the pit?

Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't. At one of our gigs at Bogart's in Long Beach, they didn't. First, about 40 couples started line dancing, then all these sweaty guys started crashing into these girls wearing red petticoats, and at least three unrelated fights broke out immediately. But like I said, rockabilly was the original punk rock music.

So you've been everywhere, even to Russia -- what was that like?

We were playing in Norway and they took us across the border to Russia, way up there in the Arctic Circle. There were a bunch of English bands there, too, but there wasn't a hotel in the town, so they put us up in the local sanitarium. The staff was all these big Russian women wearing white uniforms saying stuff to us we couldn't understand.

What did you listen to growing up in Texas?

I listened to a whole lot of different stuff. I've played in a lot of different bands -- heavy metal bands, punk rock bands and rockabilly bands. What got me started was this record store guy who turned me onto '50s music. My first gig was with a '50s band, and I'll always love that music. We have a '50s point-of-view, but we're not a '50s band. Rockabilly fans tell me we're the only speed metal band they can listen to. Then punk rockers tell me I'm the best rockabilly band around.

What keeps you sane on those endless road trips?

Clean socks.

OK, Jim, thanks for talking. I look forward to seeing you in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara? I thought this was for the L.A. Times?

It is. We're like Warner Bros., man. Details

* WHAT: The Reverend Horton Heat, Useless Playboys, Dave & Deke Combo.

* WHEN: Friday, 9 p.m.

* WHERE: Underground, 110 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara.

* HOW MUCH: $12.

* CALL: 965-5050.

A hard-hitting dynamo of a play, "Stand-Up Tragedy" ricochets around the PCPA Theaterfest stage with the same electricity powering the high-tension activities of its New York barrio setting -- rap music, basketball and street violence.

A minimal set adorned with graffiti, break dancing and, on occasion, spilled blood, is all the backdrop the talented 12-member ensemble needs to evoke Bill Cain's harrowing portrait of inner-city youth trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, crime and premature death.

But somewhere in the midst of all the squandered possibilities, hopes Tom Griffin (Ron Heneghan), an idealistic young teacher newly arrived at a Catholic all-boy's high school, there's still a chance to make a difference by turning some lives around.

Not likely, counters the school principal, a cynical priest (Charlie Bachmann) who's lost much of his faith struggling with problems that stubbornly resist solutions. Father Larkin has learned the hard way not to tamper with the local ecology.

It's a lesson Griffin sets out to disprove, by taking a personal interest in Lee Cortez (Gendell Hernandez), a gifted young artist trapped in a squalid family setting.

This is the familiar plot territory of many a stirring humanistic drama -- from "The Blackboard Jungle" to "Stand and Deliver" -- but Cain's version, steeped in his personal experience as a teacher in New York's Lower East Side, lacks the self-congratulatory tone and upbeat assurance of an inevitable happy resolution.

Too often, this play insists, attempts to intervene only makes things infinitely worse. Griffin's offer of sanctuary to the troubled Lee proves disastrous because it's only temporary: For the boy, being sent back to the suffocating embrace of an abusive, alcoholic mother and a heroin addict brother is cruel punishment after he's had a taste of healthier family life.

In a chilling reprisal that embodies his sense of betrayal, Lee destroys a painting he's just given Griffin, saying, "I wanted to give you something beautiful and then take it away."

There are many such moments in this well-constructed piece, exchanges that crystallize the inner processes that perpetuate the sense of hopelessness.

The strikingly original presentational style filters out extraneous details -- ironic touches such as the national anthem abbreviated to just its first and last lines -- that are perfectly calibrated to a generation of channel surfers.

Director Paul Barnes retains the abstract confrontational format that distinguished the piece in its 1989 staging at the Mark Taper Forum, with an abundance of raucous energy, outrageous humor and frank vocabulary.

Ironically, some of the strongest language comes from the anguished Father Larkin, whose clear-sighted commentary sustains the play's theological underpinnings as he confronts the abject failure of well-intentioned social reforms.

For these desperate youths, the only thing worse than the status quo would be to turn our backs on them. Yet that's precisely the direction in which we seem headed. Details

* WHAT: "Stand-Up Tragedy."

* WHEN: Through Jan. 29, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8, Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays at 2 p.m.

* WHERE: Allan Hancock College Severson Theatre, 800 S. College Drive, Santa Maria.

* HOW MUCH: $12-$18.

* FYI: For reservations or further information, call (800) 549-PCPA.

Let's start things off with an event for you celebrity watchers.

Santa Barbara's Arlington Theatre tonight will hold the benefit premiere of the Barry Levinson film "Disclosure," starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. The R-rated movie, based on the Michael Crichton novel, looks at men and women, and intimidation and manipulation, in the corporate world.

It's hard to tell who's going to show up, but Douglas, a local resident, has a reputation for making these premiere screenings. Dennis Miller, another local in the film, has committed to attend.

Regardless, there will be a celebrity reception beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by the red carpet arrival at 8 p.m. and screening at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for the screening and $50 for preferred seating and the reception. Proceeds will benefit Santa Barbara's Access Theatre. The Arlington is at 1317 State St. Call 963-4408.

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UC Santa Barbara's Department of Music will strut its versatility tonight when the Sitar Ensemble and the Gamelan Ensemble present a joint "World Music Concert" at the Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall on campus.

Under the direction of Scott Marcus and led by tabla instrumentalist Gregg Johnson, the sitar group will perform a selection of classical pieces from northern India. The Gamelan Ensemble, led by Ed Dorsey, will share music from central and western Java. The show will begin at 8 p.m. General admission is $8, with tickets available at the door. Call 893-3535.

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Lit Moon Theatre Company of Santa Barbara will open its production of "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" tonight at Westmont College's Porter Theatre. The production, based on Ernst Theodore Hoffmann's holiday classic, will run through Dec. 18. Show times are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14 (general), $10 (senior citizens and students) and $8 (children). Call 565-7040. The college is at 955 La Paz Road in Montecito.

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Santa Barbara County preschool to high school students will display their artwork in "An Angel Passes," an exhibit opening Friday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's Ridley-Tree Education Center. The show is scheduled to run at least through January. The center is at 1600 Santa Barbara St. It is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. but will be closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 27 through Jan. 1.

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Last week, it was the State Street Christmas Parade, and this Saturday, it's the Milpas Street Christmas Parade -- the 42nd annual, in fact. Bands, drill teams, mariachis, dance ensembles and others will make their way from De La Guerra Street to Mason Street beginning at 10 a.m. Call 563-2885.

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What would the holiday season be without "The Nutcracker," as performed by the Santa Barbara Festival Ballet? The dance ensemble will present its 20th anniversary performance at the Arlington Theatre at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10.50 to $23. Call 963-4408.

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The Philadelphia-based American Family Theatre will bring its version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" to the Lobero Theatre, in a musical for all ages. The show will be presented at 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range from $7 to $12. Call 963-0761. The theater is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

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The ever-difficult-to-describe Santa Barbara band Headless Household will present its fifth annual Christmas Concert on Sunday at the Center Stage Theater. The quartet, with help from some special guests, will play a variety of musical styles, including, in their words, "cushy pop, madcap improvisation, Yuletide high jinks, jazz, polka. . . ." Needless to say, be ready for anything. Show time is 2 p.m. General admission is $7. Call 963-0408. Center Stage Theater is on the second level of the Paseo Nuevo Mall, at Chapala and De La Guerra streets.

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Ongoing: Sculptures and drawings by British environmental artist David Nash continue on display at Santa Barbara's Contemporary Arts Forum through Jan. 7. The geometric sculptures, fashioned with a chain saw, incorporate only condemned trees or those cut down for what Nash deems good reason. The charcoal used in the drawings is made from twigs and scraps left over from his sculpted wood. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but will be closed Dec. 24 through 31. It is on the second level of the Paseo Nuevo shopping center. Admission is free. Call 966-5373.

Finding the simple and good at lunch is often an arduous and bad experience.

So many lunch menus are nothing more than dumbed-down dinner menus -- a cop-out when you consider that lunch is its own culinary genre, designed around the great sandwich and the great bowl of soup.

Although some restaurants still post true lunch menus, they mar their offerings with bogus, insipid ingredients -- my favorite among the deceptions being sliced processed loaf turkey instead of the carved real thing.

Plainly, the good lunch spot is hard to find.

Now comes Royal Bakery, modestly situated at the corner of a mall on Telephone Road in Ventura. The Royal is doing it right: It treats lunch with simplicity, boldness and authenticity in the ingredients. The result, taken in spare white surroundings on cafe tables indoors and out, is altogether restorative. And the Royal, despite a recent downsizing of some portions owing to feverish popularity in the first honeymoon months of its being open, does lunch for an attractive price.

Start with one of the soups ($2.95), which change daily. Always they are dense, milled to a coarse texture, fragrant with fresh herbs.

Cream of tomato, so debased in its form as perhaps the most popular canned soup in American supermarkets, recovers its essence: Pink, lustrous cream-and-fresh-tomato broth is buoyed by black pepper and the sweet pungency of basil. Corn chowder is thick, heavy on the freshly peeled mashed potatoes and whole kernel corn -- a rendering so rustic as to be straight from Iowa. Only cream of mushroom lacks oomph, but then the mushrooms are fresh and firm, the broth silken and faintly woodsy.

Sandwiches are accompanied by a salad of mixed, supermarket-style greens, but the leaves are sparkling fresh and spiked with crumbled feta cheese and toasted pine nuts. Caesar salad is available for $3.95, and it is quite presentable: fresh in the romaine with real bite in the dressing.

The turkey club sandwich ($5), simply named and fabulously constructed, is the real article: freshly carved breast meat of roasted bird topped by crisp bacon, lettuce or mayonnaise on bakery French bread or whole wheat. (This is the outsize sandwich, I believe, that drew in the initial throngs and now has been cut back in scale and weight. Still, it remains a fine sandwich and a fair deal.)

A frequent sandwich special is curried chicken ($4.75), a humdrum name that fails to communicate a terrific freshness and complexity achieved by the incorporation into the mix of crisp green apples and raisins. Yes, the chicken is the real thing: carved from birds, not sliced from processed rolls. Tuna salad ($4.50) is a bit more run-of-the-mill but perfectly adequate, as over-the-counter tuna goes, if you can abide the incorporation of chopped sweet pickle.

A worthy soup-and-salad deal is the $4 combination, featuring a bowl of soup and a half sandwich of your choice.

The Royal expands its lunch menu by offering fresh individual pizzas and a variety of quiches. Both can be excellent, and both can be lackluster -- so you're more on your own here. A recent sun-dried tomato pizza with three cheeses, goat among them, was quite good: firm, yeasty crust, pungent cheeses, generous slices of sun-dried fruit. But a barbecued chicken pizza -- dried out, lacking flavor -- wasn't nearly as successful.

A mushroom and fresh-herb quiche was stunning in its joining of rich egg filling with light, fragrant mushrooms in a frothy mix. A sausage quiche, while adequate, was sodden and without such magic.

Once in awhile, the Royal's kitchen stretches even further, crossing the line into dinner-style entrees. On a recent visit, one such dish, listed as a blackboard special, was linguine with cream, sherry, Dijon mustard, capers, sweet red peppers and seared chicken.

The good news: For $5.95, you can get a mammoth portion of properly cooked pasta with a rich, flavorsome sauce. The bad news: It's actually too flavorful (too concentrated in the sharp combination of mustard and capers), too rich, too heavy, too, too, too. For the person who wants a large lunch, though, it may be worth a go. In any event, it's clear that real talent lurks about this humble bakery kitchen.

Desserts here form a universe far larger than the usual: The Royal was and is first a bakery, and so pastries, cookies and cakes of every stripe abound. The results are of uniformly high quality. Of course, if a simple lunch is your mission, you might instead prefer an espresso or cappuccino, each brewed competently.

The Royal continues to adjust to its newfound popularity, and it will be critical in the coming months that the place find stability in portions and prices. So much works well now -- the delightful staff bears mention here -- that it would be a shame to falter under the crush of people grateful for the simple, good lunch. Details

* WHAT: Royal Bakery and Cafe.

* WHERE: 4726 Telephone Road, Ventura, 654-9104, 658-6030.

* WHEN: Lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone orders welcome.

* FYI: Lunch for two, food only, $10 to $18.

La Terraza restaurant at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza has changed executive chefs.

New on the scene is Don Catlin, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who most recently was executive chef at the Hyatt hotel in Cherry Hill, N. J. Catlin took over his new position when former head chef Randy Saito was transferred to the Hyatt at Los Angeles International Airport.

Joe Jackson, food and beverage director at Hyatt Westlake, said not to expect any menu changes to accompany the chef changes just yet. Don't, however, be surprised to see a whole new restaurant format soon. The hotel is at 880 S. Westlake Blvd.

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For those who hadn't noticed, Ventura's Golden China Restaurant has moved, from 1105 S. Seaward Ave. to 760 S. Seaward Ave., where Charlie Brown's used to be.

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Christmas party hosts who have grown tired of the old eggnog routine may want to consider what a couple of local schoolteachers have to offer.

Elena Lattarulo, a Spanish instructor at Hueneme High School and Ventura College, and her colleague Miguel Gutierrez, who teaches science and math at Rio Mesa High School, have recently begun carting around their a Rent-A-Rita machine.

That's Rita as in marga-rita. With the push of a handle the bartender-in-a-box dispenses the drinks in the manner of a soft-serve ice cream machine. All the host need supply is the alcohol.

"I was always the token margarita person at all the parties I went too," Lattarulo said. "I have a reputation for making killer margaritas, but I always ended up stuck in the kitchen with the blender." So she found an alternative for herself and others with the same high-demand skill.

Lattarulo said the machines are popular in Texas, but California has been slow to catch on.

"The machines are really easy to operate. We just deliver them, make sure everything's OK, and then we leave." She said the machine is suitable for large or small gatherings. "We did a party for between 300 and 400 people, and we've done one as small as 25." The Rita has been invited to a few upcoming Christmas parties, and already has been reserved for the Fourth of July. Information: 647-7200.

As the dust settles on Orange County's breathless passage from a worried community to a bankrupt one, what the public still does not know looms large. To date, officials at the center of the storm have done little to clarify matters or provide perspective.

On Wednesday, the day after Orange County filed for protection under Chapter 9 of the federal Bankruptcy Code, county officials still were trying to come to grips with the consequences of the risky investment strategies employed by Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, who resigned Monday.

A SHAKEN MARKET: It is understood that officials are caught up in a struggle to cope with the crisis, but the fact remains that this financial disaster has its roots in a lack of public explanation and understanding. Addressing the public's need to know the extent of the problem, and how it happened, is paramount.

The declaration of bankruptcy has undermined the confidence of the entire bond market. Meanwhile, government workers in Orange County are wondering whether they will be paid, and the municipal and school agencies that employ them are scrambling to figure out what all this means for them. It is imperative that the county government come completely clean if it means to fully address the problem and enlist community and national support in moving forward.

Information has been harder to find than an eager new investor in a county bond. Orange County has been dispensing it in dribs and drabs, much as office gossip might leak out around the water cooler.

Wall Street, a continent away, has turned out to be the only real source of information on the county's earlier efforts to liquidate its holdings and possibly avoid bankruptcy. With Wall Street sources reporting that losses may be even greater than the $1.5-billion figure given last week, there still has been no full accounting from Orange County. And it remains unclear what the actual value is now for the investment-pool fund that Citron operated.

SOONER THE BETTER: And there are more questions:

On what basis, and on whose advice, did Orange County become the largest municipality in U.S. history ever to file for bankruptcy?

People on the street, investors and school and other public officials wonder whether less drastic action was considered. If so, why was it rejected?

And how was Citron was able to operate without oversight? The Board of Supervisors must answer that one.

All these questions have national implications. One of the attractions of bonds has been their relative stability, based on support by the taxing power of local governments. If governments suddenly and unexpectedly can declare bankruptcy, this important economic assumption may vanish for all municipal bond investors.

Orange County officials must understand that their fiscal affairs are now a matter of national importance, perhaps even urgency. The sooner all the facts are public, the better.

Elizabeth Glaser, who died Saturday of complications from AIDS, was best known for the speech she gave at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. However, she was equally eloquent when she told graduates of the UCLA Medical School: "I will not win all of my battles, and neither will you. But if we do our best with intelligence, compassion and love, that will be enough -- it has to be enough. And that way, though each outcome may not be what we had wanted or hoped for, at least each day we can be proud of who we are."

Her message to the Democrats, and the nation, in 1992 bears repeating: "This (fight against AIDS) is not about being a Republican or an independent or a Democrat. It's about the future -- for each and every one of us."

Two days before her death, David Satcher, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declared AIDS to be the leading cause of death among Americans 25 to 44. "In the history of epidemics, AIDS is among the worst in the world," Satcher said. At the time of Glaser's convention speech, 200,000 Americans had died from AIDS; when she died, the list contained 50,000 more names.

It's said that half of those who learn that they are infected with HIV try to go on with their lives and that the other half simply wait to die. Glaser, who was infected by a blood transfusion, co-founded a group devoted to pediatric AIDS research. She raised millions of dollars to finance research and to pay for the care and treatment of young AIDS patients. Though she lost a child to AIDS, she never succumbed to discouragement and she totally rejected the view this is a disease that strikes those who do not deserve our compassion, our help and our tax dollars. Her legacy is large.

Re "Brown Blocks GOP Assembly Takeover . . . " (Dec. 6): Perhaps the Speaker of the State Assembly should be a "duel" position?

CRAIG A. ANDREIKO

Alta Loma

Don Bustany makes several misleading statements in his letter (Nov. 29). He asserts that prior to the early 1900s, Jews "in Arab societies did not experience persecution."The truth is that conditions for Jews in Arab lands, as in Christian Europe, were a mixture of good and bad. As a subjugated minority in both Islamic and Christian societies, Jews suffered chronic discrimination and recurring periods of active or even violent persecution. Indeed, Zionism developed as a modern movement in direct response to these dependent conditions and their resulting social, cultural and political problems.

Bustany wants Jews to recognize that Palestinians occupied the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine) "first." But we Jews define "first" as a much earlier point in time, and maintain our own prior and uninterrupted claim to that same land. Having engaged Bustany and other Arab partisans in dialogue over the past 15 years, I do not expect either side to be convinced of the other's philosophical stance.

What does hold some hope are the Israeli-Palestinian accords and the desire of both parties to find a practical way to live peacefully next to each other, despite our ideological divisions. I can only pray that both sides work toward this shared goal.

EITAN GINSBURG, Executive Director

United Jewish Appeal

Federation of Ventura County

Old nuclear bomb waste ("Losing the Nuclear Waste War," Nov. 27) will not, as your writer suggests, pose a "risk to health and safety for more than 10,000 years."That's wishful thinking. Plutonium 239, with a half-life of 24,400 years, will remain deadly for the next 300,000 years. And to think we won the Cold War.

JONATHAN PARFREY

Executive Director, Los Angeles

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Re " 'Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License' Law in Effect," Dec. 1:

Drunk drivers win again! Convicted drunk drivers will continue to kill and injure by driving on our streets after consuming the "legal" drug, alcohol. The new law will prevent people from driving and getting to work for merely possessing or smoking a "joint." What about possession of an open container of alcohol in the car? What about the consumption of any alcohol and driving? Over 50% of the traffic fatalities are caused by drinking drivers, not people with less than an ounce of marijuana in their possession.

Our obsession with blaming "illicit" drugs as the cause of all the problems in the country is ridiculous. We must take responsibility for our actions. The problem is not drugs, it is us and our inability to face reality.

GENE MORRIS

Lake Forest

* Someone, oh someone, please explain to me in non-religious terms how, under our newly effective law, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana (automatic penalty: loss of driver's license for six months) constitutes a more serious transgression than running a red light (citation and $100 fine). Translating my question into less legalistic language: What real-life danger does that small amount of marijuana pose to outweigh the great danger to life, limb and property posed by him or her who runneth that red traffic light?

My use of the word "non-religious" arises from my firm belief that the so-called "war on drugs" is, in large part, little more than an expanded version of our old-time religiously based prohibition of alcoholic beverages; and, from all available information, seems to be working just about as well as its illustrious predecessor.

HORACE GAIMS

Los Angeles

* Your article stated that in the next 12 months, 131,000 drivers in California will lose their licenses for drug-related offenses whether or not they were operating a motor vehicle. Maybe this sounds like a good idea to some; in actuality we all know that the revocation of a license seldom (if ever) stops a person from driving. Especially in a city like Los Angeles with its unworkable mass-transit system. So all this ridiculous new law will do is create 131,000 new illegal drivers this year. Most will be uninsured, as well as apprehensive of being stopped by the cops. That's just what we need -- thousands of more paranoid people behind the wheel on our freeways on top of the millions we already have.

The idea of yet one more "drug law" is actually pretty depressing when you figure it will just create a whole new set of problems for a state that can hardly cope with the ones we're faced with now. It seems that California is taking one more giant step backward. Is this 1964 or 1994?

CHESTER McGEE

West Hills

"Humorous"? Surely he jests.

That's how one Los Angeles Fire Department captain defended a videotape that depicts female recruits in an offensive way.One can only wonder whether he would have said the same thing if the hourlong "bloopers" tape had featured only African American firefighters tripping while their white counter-parts performed smoothly? Or only Latino recruits?

Chief Donald O. Manning has acquitted himself no better in the latest embarrassment to the Fire Department. Incredibly, Manning said that an internal probe he called for after he had viewed a portion of the tape found no wrongdoing. Still, the chief ordered that the tape no longer be played-it reported was shown at a number of fire stations-because it might be "misinterpreted" as being demeaning to women.

Fire Department brass apparently cannot fathom how the tape, also shown on some TV newscasts this week, would be seen as humiliating to women; yet it depicts women exclusively as bunglers, dropping ladders on themselves, even injuring themselves during training drills.

The department is already under sharp scrutiny in the area of human rights; a city audit found that women and minorities had been harassed and unfairly evaluated by supervisors in an effort to run them off the force.

Manning's response to discovery of the videotape only lends credibility to these charges. It also raises the uncomfortable question of whether the department's problems begin in the chief's office.

Re Bill Boyarsky's column, "Victims' Families Should Be Heard," Dec. 1:

Hear! Hear! Mr. Boyarsky, for putting into words what so many of us out here believe to be an outrage regarding the defense of O.J. Simpson.

What is puzzling to me, and to everyone I have talked to about this case, is why this very costly (to the taxpayers) charade is being allowed to unfold. Our tax dollars should go to educating our children, feeding our elderly, keeping our streets clean and safe -- just about anything but this! Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran are living examples of megalomaniacs, and it amazes me that they are allowed to treat the families of the victims and potential jurors as though they were the criminals. I have never seen a more brazen attempt to "stack the deck" in terms of jury selection.

Be a man, O.J. -- take your chances for a fair trial like everybody else, save your money for your four children and ailing mother, and send those high-priced roosters packing! Aside from looking very guilty to the public at large -- even sadder -- you look like a puppet and a fool.

ELAYNE SHAFFER

Palos Verdes

* The Simpson defense team, aided in part by Judge Lance Ito's somewhat misplaced awe at the media attention to the case, has managed to promote the idea that anyone who thinks O.J. Simpson might be guilty is somehow compromising his right to a fair trial. This is nonsense.

Under our system of law, the presumption of innocence is just that, a presumption -- a postulation, a hypothesis -- which jurors are bound to make when considering evidence in a trial. It is possible to presume Simpson innocent even if common sense tells us he is guilty, just as it is possible for a scientist to fairly test a hypothesis he may suspect or believe to be false.

Our system of law, in its abstract majesty, recognizes its own limitations. It never presumes to judge whether or not a defendant is absolutely guilty or innocent, in the eyes of God, for example, beyond all doubt. It only presumes to say that 12 reasonable people, presented with all the reasonably admissible evidence, have or have not been convinced of a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

LLOYD FONVIELLE

West Hollywood

Re "The Nightmare Is Coming True," Commentary, Nov. 28:

Ruben Martinez should remove his self-righteous blinders. His own hate-filled column attempts to justify the irresponsibility of illegals by blaming white homeowners.He may like teaching poetry to illegals, but that hardly justifies California citizens being held responsible, instead of their home countries, for the multimillion-dollar costs of providing schooling and medical care as well as the costs of welfare and voting fraud.

Come on Martinez, lift your eyes up and turn your name-calling on the irresponsibilities of both the home countries and the illegals themselves. They need to accept their personal responsibility for controlling and educating the large families they choose to have, rather than trying to shift blame for their problems to conjured-up images of evil white homeowners.

WILLIAM N. McNAIRN

Palos Verdes

* It is refreshing to read Jorge G. Castaneda's commentary, "Reality Bites 'Sending' Countries" (Nov. 25). To learn that Mexico treats undocumented Salvadorans equal to or worse than our treatment of Mexicans is an eye-opener. And to read that Latin American governments will have to negotiate the numbers of their countrymen who wish to leave means that the "If you don't like it here, go north" attitude may change.

And the article, "Leaders Worry: After Prop. 187, the Deluge" (Nov. 26), which refers to a massive return of their citizens from the United States: This may force these governments to improve conditions for their citizens rather than ignoring their economic problems.

If this happens, Proposition 187 will have sent a message to Washington to secure our borders and one to Latin American governments to improve their citizens' lives rather than letting the United States do it.

LARRY BRIGGS

Twentynine Palms

Antonio di Pietro, the Milan magistrate who has set the pace in Italy's long-running "clean hands" investigation into government corruption, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday. He claimed he was being abused both by those who wished to interfere with his investigation and those who wished to use it for their own political ends. It was time, he said, to "depersonalize" the investigation by ending his association with it.

Di Pietro has undeniably personified the "clean hands" investigation for millions of Italians, inspiring a country in which political corruption has been regarded as inevitable with his own bold conviction that there need be nothing inevitable about it.

After Di Pietro's announcement, newspapers in Italy were reportedly deluged with faxes urging him to reconsider. The popular fear, and we share it, is that a deeply salutary development in Italian political life may now be at risk.

Di Pietro and his colleagues seemed on the point of truly changing the course of Italian history. A politician may defeat another politician, but this magistrate and the many for whom he was the leader and symbol defeated an entire political party and overthrew a political regime. The Christian Democratic Party, dominant in Italy since the end of World War II, was so ruined by exposure of its pervasive corruption that the path was clear for a fresh start.

Ironically, the biggest beneficiary of "clean hands" may now have become its worst enemy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's newly formed party, Forza Italia (the name means, roughly, "Go, Italy!"), came to power by promising an end to the politics-as-usual that "clean hands" had exposed. However, as the continuing investigation has brought Berlusconi's giant Fininvest company and, finally, the prime minister himself under scrutiny, he has suddenly discovered the virtues of "normality . . . in the administration of justice."

If Di Pietro is quitting, has Berlusconi won? Like so many Italians, we hope not. Italy has celebrated Di Pietro because his investigation did not shrink from indicting even Bettino Craxi, formerly prime minister, now a fugitive from justice.

Berlusconi may well have done nothing wrong, but Di Pietro's departure must not be allowed to mean that the old Italy has defeated the new, or that the prime minister is above the law.

When Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo this weekend, it won't be the first time the prize has been the center of a storm of controversy. Of all the Nobel prizes, the peace prize has the potential to generate the greatest debate because it is, invariably, linked to politics.

Two other Nobel Peace Prizes of our time stirred extraordinary passion. Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam shared the prize in 1973 for negotiating an end to a war both had prosecuted with some vigor. In 1985, the selection of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War drew furious protest because the group's co-president, Yevgeny Chazov, was a high-ranking Soviet doctor who in 1972 had signed a letter critical of Andrei Sakharov, who was awarded the peace prize in 1975.

This year's choice stirred controversy even before its formal announcement, and was followed by a series of events proving just how fragile the Middle East peace process is. Within hours of the announcement, an Israeli soldier who had been kidnaped by the anti-Arafat Hamas was executed. Within days, the Israeli-Jordanian peace accord was signed, a terrorist bomb exploded on a Tel Aviv bus killing dozens of civilians, and Syria's President Hafez Assad, meeting with President Clinton, appeared to be making small steps toward peace with Israel. At the very least, critics said, the choice of Arafat, Rabin and Peres was premature.

While one might quarrel with this year's selection, much of the debate flows from misconceptions about the prize itself.

The first misconception is that the Nobel Peace Prize is a secular form of sainthood. There is an implicit expectation that every recipient will be like Mother Teresa, a selfless servant without blemishes, contradictions or apparent ego. But these characteristics, no matter how appealing, are not prerequisites to peacemaking.

The second misconception is that the peace prize is a reward for good deeds. The prize is often a stick, not a carrot, used by the Nobel committee to send signals to governments, to rouse public opinion or to give momentum and recognition to fledgling efforts at reconciliation.

In citing the anti-nuclear physicians in 1985, for example, the Nobel committee explicitly linked the prize to ongoing disarmament negotiations in Geneva, hoping that the recognition of a Soviet-American organization would give new urgency to those talks and to an upcoming Reagan/Gorbachev summit.

With this year's recipients, the committee is recognizing the first fragile steps taken by former adversaries. But, more important, the committee is encouraging the floundering Middle East peace process forward. The committee's decision is, ultimately, a political one, not a moral one.

A third misconception about the prize involves the selection process itself. Though its ultimate choice is usually a closely guarded secret, the Nobel committee does not work in hermetic secrecy. It works year-round gathering information on nominees and surveying the global political landscape.

The committee is frequently the target of well-organized campaigns on behalf of some nominees. Any member of a national legislature, any previous recipient, any professor in the liberal arts and sciences can, with a simple letter, add a name to the list. What often lifts names to the top of the list is an orchestrated effort to garner the support of luminaries whose opinions may carry weight with the committee.

There are, to be sure, profound moral dimensions to the issues of war and peace, but analysis of the peace prize must recognize what it is. It is the world's highest political honor, not a free pass through the pearly gates.

The Simpson trial and other sensational Court TV crime cases have focused attention as never before on our state court judges. The intense spotlight creates an opportunity to raise anew a question: Should judges have to endure political-style campaigns to become judges? Many legal and judicial experts think not. I share this view, and a recent professional experience confirms it.

While most judges are appointed by the governor, a quirk in the law requires judicial vacancies in gubernatorial election years to be filled by election. This finds them running for office countywide, seeking support from millions of voters who know virtually nothing about them. In addition, judges who are initially appointed must stand for election at the end of their terms.

I was the election-law attorney for a successful Los Angeles Superior Court candidate, a retiring legislator, in litigation with his opponent over the accuracy of their ballot statements and ballot titles. Since voters get nearly all of their information about judicial candidates from ballot descriptions, their accuracy can become the principal battleground in any contested judicial campaign.

My client will be an outstanding judge. But the fact that his election could have hinged on the appeal of a three-word ballot title is precisely what is wrong with a system that elects judges by popular vote.

Maintaining the dignity of our judges is vital to preserving their legitimacy and ability to command public respect. Campaigns in which judges must run for office like ordinary politicians demean their stature and diminish the credibility of our judicial system.

As candidates, for example, judges must raise campaign funds. Most, being lawyers, obtain funds from other lawyers. Some of these campaign contributors will later appear in the judges' courtrooms seeking relief for their clients. The possibility that elected judges could choose to hear contributors' cases and rule in favor of their clients without proper disclosure of the relationship places them in potentially compromising positions.

Like ordinary politicians, judicial candidates will use litigation as a weapon to gain an advantage over their opponent. Such tactics inevitably draw the courts into partisan politics and require them to rule for and against competing judicial candidates, one of whom will soon become a colleague. This ability to affect the outcome of a judicial election places sitting judges in an uncomfortable position, yet it is one into which they are thrust by the current system.

Such litigation also can produce court findings that one or both of the candidates have been "guilty" of misleading the public. Judges must be above suspicion. A victorious judicial candidate who was found to have misled the voters during the campaign -- even if the court's ruling was wrong or questionable -- would take the bench with a permanent stain on his record.

Like ordinary politicians, judicial candidates and their campaign handlers also must work the media, exploiting and putting the best possible spin on campaign issues, including election-related court rulings. In short, judicial candidates must lower themselves and endure the indignities of an ordinary political campaign to achieve a position in society that should be above politics.

It is time to change the laws that require our state court judges to run for office. All judges should be appointed by the governor on a bipartisan basis. The appointments would be recommended by a panel appointed by the governor, Assembly Speaker, Senate president and state Supreme Court chief justice. Judges should not be required to run for "reelection." They should serve fixed terms of sufficiently long duration to ensure adequate independence and opportunity for professional growth and service. At the end of their terms, their qualifications for further service would be examined by the independent review panel. The governor then would have the option of reappointing a judge or naming another person from the independent candidate pool.

Restoring public faith in government can only be helped by removing our judges from politics and placing them above the fray. Judge Lance Ito, who is presiding over the O.J. Simpson murder trial, was appointed. Let's guarantee that the judges who try the big cases of the future also will be picked for their qualifications, not for their popular three-word ballot titles.

Victor Herbert's "Babes in Toyland" is such a classic that some of its melodies seem a part of everyone's youth. The charming nursery-rhyme characters bring back memories of childhood's first picture books and the discovery of what an adventure reading can be.

Ruth Perry and Ann Smit's adaptation for youth theater retains all that wonder, and Newport Theatre Arts Center's staging, directed by Terri Miller Schmidt, gives the classic that fresh look that only the enthusiasm of its young performers can provide.

Of course, there are the usual hesitancies of the very youngest cast members, some of whom watch the audience watching them -- but their reactions add to the sense of fun.

The biggest laugh of the show -- and it's a big one -- when Bo Peep's (an adorable Jessica Stewart) tiny lost sheep finally turn up, is worth all of Schmidt's patience and inventiveness. It's an irresistible surprise.

The older teen-age members of the company, who play the leads and other central figures, all give good performances, but some stand out. Corrine Hart is delightful as Jane, the girl whose parakeet has flown away and leads her and her friends on their greatest adventure away from the toy factory. But it is Stephen Garber as Tom Tom who is most notable for his very believable characterization and a fine singing voice, particularly in his solo "Jane." He and Hart lead everyone vocally.

*

Good vocal turns also are well-handled by Leslie Holland as the beleaguered Widow Piper, Maureen Marks as the moth Queen Luna (who is be-webbed in the Valley of Spiders), and David Rivera as Roderigo, a henchman of Uncle Barnaby, who runs the toy factory and has lured three of the Widow's children away to sell as toys.

Peter Young, wearing too much makeup, doesn't need that help. He's the perfect Toyland villain, whose sneers and grimaces effectively disguise his youth.

* "Babes in Toyland," Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 18. $8. (714) 631-0288. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Corrine Hart: Jane

Stephen Garber: Tom Tom

Peter Young: Uncle Barnaby

Leslie Holland: Widow Piper

David Rivera: Roderigo

Jessica Stewart: Bo Peep

Maureen Marks: Queen Luna / Colette

A Newport Theatre Arts Center production of the Victor Herbert classic, produced by Brenda Abshear and Jeanne Nininger. Directed by Terri Miller Schmidt. Choreography: Kai Chubb. Scenic design: Larry Watts. Costume design: Gena Stredlow. Lighting design: Jane Hobson.

Dickens Lite comes nicely packaged in South Coast Repertory's 15th annual production of "A Christmas Carol." The show has all the Yuletide trimmings: radiant party scenes, sentimental warmth, holiday music and, of course, a glowing tale of moral transformation.

Hal Landon Jr. is back for his perennial star turn as Ebenezer Scrooge, playing the world's nastiest penny pincher with the ease of a practiced meanie. His bony face, minus last year's grizzly white beard, conveys with a single frown all we need to know about this hardhearted "miser's miser."

Though Scrooge's conversion to Christmas benefactor strains credulity in this production, there is a generous dramatic payoff for audiences willing to suspend their disbelief. Cynics may also take pleasure from the show, even if they're left cold by his discovery that charity and kindness are not "Bah! Humbug!" after all.

Under John-David Keller's sharp direction, a large cast in full Victorian regalia fills out the stage with spirited performances. The magical set, abetted by atmospheric lighting and a vivid sound design, offers special effects guaranteed to entertain adults while scaring the daylights out of small children.

A Southern California institution by now, SCR's "A Christmas Carol" ranks as a cultural rite of passage as surely as grad night at Disneyland.

Besides Landon, a polished contingent of SCR veterans is back to reprise their roles:

* Ron Boussom nearly steals the show with his theatrical ebullience as the prankish Spirit of Christmas Present; Don Took plays Marley's Ghost like a tormented creature from the bottom of the sea; and Richard Doyle personifies foppish elegance as the Spirit of Christmas Past.

* John Ellington portrays Bob Cratchit with adept comic whimsy; Art Koustik doubles as the cunning street merchant Joe and the jovial party host Mr. Fezziwig; Howard Shangraw depicts Scrooge's nephew Fred with a friendly air of refinement; Devon Raymond sketches in the attractive Belle with a few deft strokes; and director Keller pulls his weight on stage as a solicitor, portrayed with his usual elan.

But please take note: It is far better to see this show surrounded by an audience full of unruly kids than circumspect adults. Whatever the distractions caused by wailing toddlers or youngsters who giggle at every line, they are nothing compared to the deathly silence of a corporate audience.

On opening night, when the house looked like a sea of suits and sequins, the evening seemed oddly low-key -- as though energy was being drained off by playgoers, who needed a cattle prod to wake them up.

* "A Christmas Carol," South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, noon and 4 p.m.; matinee Dec. 20 and 22, 2:30 p.m.; Dec. 24, noon and 4 p.m. Ends Dec. 24. $22-$29. (714) 957-4033. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

Hal Landon Jr.: Ebenezer Scrooge

Howard Shangraw: Fred / Gentleman on the Street

John Ellington: Bob Cratchit

Sharon Omi: Mrs. Cratchit / Rich Woman

Art Koustik: Mr. Fezziwig / Joe

Alma Martinez: Mrs. Fezziwig / Solicitor/Hag

John-David Keller: Solicitor / Gentleman on the Street

Don Took Jacob: Marley's Ghost / Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come

Richard Doyle: Spirit of Christmas Past / Gentleman on the Street

Ron Boussom: Spirit of Christmas Present / Chimney Sweep

Devon Raymond: Belle / Chandler

Richard Soto: Young Ebenezer / Undertaker

Sam Well / Gianennio Salucci: "Tiny Tim" Cratchit

A South Coast Repertory production of Jerry Patch's adaptation of the story "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Directed by John-David Keller. Scenic designer: Cliff Faulkner. Costume designer: Dwight Richard Odle. Lighting designers: Tom and Donna Ruzika. Sound designer: Garth Hemphill. Music director: Dennis Castellano. Choreographer: Linda Kostalik. Production manager: Michael Mora. Stage manager: Bonnie Lorenger. Other Reviews Inside

* CHRISTMAS WITH SAL AND AMANDA GECKO -- Over-the-top at the Gem Theatre. F2

* SCROOGE -- The Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera comes through with musical high moments. F2

* CHRISTMAS AT THE DEPOT -- La Habra adds some silliness to small-town atmosphere. F2

* Listings of other Orange County productions are on F3.

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

*

If you're sick of "Jingle Bells" and can't bear to see another "Christmas Carol" for as long as you live, Marion Gallo's "Home Fire" is the perfect play for the holiday season.

In fact, "Jingle Bells" -- merrily sung by Rosemary Clooney, Jose Carreras and Bing Crosby -- serves as crazed counterpoint to scenes that get loonier and darker and funnier, as every possible buried family secret surfaces at one Christmas get-together in Brooklyn. The confessions come fast and furious once Rocco (John Gallucci), a fed-up son, takes a gun to his own extended family, forcing a confrontation between his coddled brother Danny (James DiStefano) and his overbearing, nasty mother Mary (Vera Lockwood).

Just the anticipation of seeing his family for the holidays throws poor Danny's back out. "They know how to push every button!" he tells his wife, Laura (Mary VanArsdel, also played by Nanci Christopher), who is an object of fascination for the family because she sees a therapist. "And they know where they are too," she answers, "because they installed them!"

While Danny, a photographer, is still carrying the burden of being Mama's favorite, his brother Rocco relishes his bad-boy role despite a wife and two constantly-fighting-because-they're-sexually-attracted-to-each-other teen-age children.

In fact, the play at Theatre West opens with Rocco delivering a monologue actually in flagrante with one of his several mistresses. A sense of riotousness begins there and grows throughout the evening, which, though a bit long, is refreshingly honest about just how sick families can be.

In his black leather jacket, Gallucci (also the show's producer) fairly drips testosterone as the unrepentant male who likes to remind all his lovers, including his wife (Barbara Goodson), that he needs to be free. DiStefano is completely believable as Rocco's completely different brother, and his reactive comic timing is wonderful (sometimes reminiscent of Joe Pesci's) in such interesting situations as listening to Rocco's dream in which Farrah Fawcett urinates on his face.

Gallo directs with an eye for truthfulness as merciless as her pen, and with great energy. Her cast, some of which changes from night to night, bites into its assorted venalities with healthy appetites. "Home Fire" is a go-for-broke evening of dysfunctionality that, because of its candor, manages to be more revivifying than the load of pious family fare we will no doubt be served up this year, as ever. God Bless America.

* "Home Fire, An Insane Christmas Comedy!," Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West., Los Angeles . Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m. Dark Dec. 24, 25, 31, Jan. 1. Ends Jan . 15. $15. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. Other Reviews Inside

* A CHRISTMAS CAROL -- Dickens Lite comes nicely packaged at South Coast Repertory. F11

* THE X-MAS FILES -- Jeff Goode's monologues at Hudson BackStage are wickedly funny. F11

* CHRISTMAS WITH SAL AND AMANDA GECKO -- Over-the-top at the Gem Theatre. F11

* MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET -- The show at Actors Workout Studio is more earnest than involving. F11

* YULETIDE STORIES -- The trio of one-acts at the Burbage Theatre won't kindle the holiday spirit. F11

* A CHRISTMAS CAROL -- At San Diego Repertory Theatre, the story returns to its Victorian origins. F11 LAURIE WINER

There are so many adaptations of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" today, including ones with Muppets and Mickey Mouse, that a purist has no choice but to accept the changes by writers who think they can do the job better than the original author.

But let your rewrites be consistent. Leslie Bricusse's musical version of "Scrooge," by Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera, correctly has Christmas Present (a fine, robust Pat Ikerd) answer Scrooge's question about the spirit's family by explaining that he has 1,854 brothers. Yet one of them in this production is played by a woman.

Ignoring Dickens' explicit description of Christmas Past as a muscular young man with very long white hair, Michelle Darrah plays the role delightfully with a tinkling voice and feather-light movement. She's one of the bright holiday lights in the production.

Although hampered by Bricusse's rather dull score, which at moments seems as though it's trying to be by Lionel Bart, director Tim Kashani's staging is vigorous and pulls the heartstrings at all the right moments. Joshua Carr's musical direction almost brings a few of the tunes to life, but sometimes vocal shyness in the singers defeats him.

The moment when all the ingredients come together is in the show's best number, "The Beautiful Day," conducted with great heart and sung impeccably and assuredly by John Haworth, one of the most effective Tiny Tims we've seen in a long time.

*

The fine Scrooge of Chris Sands is kinetic and has a slight sense of sensitivity beneath a crusty exterior that works just fine. He also dances and sings with energy and aplomb.

Marty Silva's Bob Cratchit has the proper obstinate cheerfulness and optimism, and Ron Lipp's soup peddler Tom Jenkins is Dickensian enough for a dozen rewritten "Carols." Lipp's powerful voice and understanding of the period look and vocal feel of his "Thank You Very Much" is one of the highlights of the staging.

Kashani's use of Kabuki-like Coachmen in black tricorns and Inverness coats is very effective and gives the production style, which, sadly, some of the supporting cast is not able to do.

* "Scrooge," Forum Theatre, 4175 Fairmont Blvd., Yorba Linda. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Dec. 18. $14. (714) 779-1932. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Chris Sands: Ebenezer Scrooge

Marty Silva: Bob Cratchit

John Haworth: Tiny Tim

Ron Lipp: Tom Jenkins

Michelle Darrah: Christmas Past

Pat Ikerd: Christmas Present

A Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera production of Leslie Bricusse's adaptation of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," produced by Virginia DeLand. Directed by Tim Kashani. Musical direction: Joshua Carr. Choreography: Joshua Ekland. Lighting design: Edward Huber. Costume design: Nancy Dock. Stage manager: Silissa Smith.

GARDEN GROVE -- For the fourth consecutive year (at the Gem Theatre this time), Sal and Amanda Gecko, lounge lizards extraordinaire, are inviting you into their tinseled living room to celebrate the season.

As they eagerly await an invitation to play Vegas on New Year's Eve, the Geckos share their dreams, their disappointments and their nightclub act with the audience.

They don't share any of their well-stocked bar, but "Jack Daniels nipping at the nose" aptly describes the state of mind and humor of our over-the-top holiday host and hostess.

Though it purports to be a sendup of maudlin specials and bad nightclub acts, "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko" is too toothless to be satirical and, try as one might, it's hard to outdo the originals, which have become parodies of themselves over the years.

As Sal and Amanda, George Quick and Beth Hansen camp it up in outrageous wigs and costumes that go Dolly Parton and your weird Uncle Bob one better.

Backed up by Terry Alaric on piano and Randy Woltz on drums, they do an accomplished job of singing badly, sliding around those pitches like sledders on freshly fallen snow. Hansen embellishes her longer notes with a vibrato like a jackhammer.

*

Both performers display considerable musical talent and charisma. But even their generous performances cannot beef up the thinness of the material, which might constitute a cute skit but stretches to the breaking point over an hour and 10 minutes.

The audience seemed to enjoy the Geckos even though there were no new jokes after the first couple of songs. For that matter, there are no "new" jokes at all -- just a familiar foolishness and a sloppy sentimentality that probably would be enhanced by a couple of stiff eggnogs before the show.

*

If you can still get a warm, gooey feeling from "A Christmas Carol" or the Grinch, "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko" may not be your cup of wassail. A certain adult jadedness is prerequisite for appreciating Sal and Amanda. My young companion just didn't get any of it and finally gave up and fell asleep.

* "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko," Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Thursday-Sunday, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees at 2:30. Ends Dec. 18. $16-$18.50. (714) 636-7213. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes.

George Quick: Sal Gecko

Beth Hansen: Amanda Gecko

Terry Alaric: Marty Feinstein

Randy Woltz: Murray Feinstein

A Musical Theatre Company production, directed by Roger Alderwood. Dialogue by Allison E. Wood. Set: Robert L. Smith. Lights: Bonnie Vigil. Sound: Dave Edwards. Stage Manager: Marya Slater.

The very site of the La Habra Depot Theatre -- the town's former train station -- tells you that the style here is quintessential small-town America, and the company's Yuletide show, "Christmas at the Depot," fits right in. But even small-town America can get a bit loopy at times.

Under the hand of director-choreographer Larry Watts, various ensembles from adults to kids regale us with an eclectic program of Christmas songs. But this isn't just a show of chorales and solos-in-place (though there is a lot of that). It seems to be taking place in someone's home, cheerily designed by Watts.

Whose home is not clear. At first it seems to belong to the extended family of adults and kids, but then it is taken over by Santa and Mrs. Claus (played, we're told, by themselves) and the elves. Even odder, after a 20-minute Act I and a 15-minute intermission, Act II has a teen ensemble dressed in Victorian garb singing such pop standards as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" to musical director Patrick Copeland's pre-taped, jazz-based arrangements.

Pacing problems jingle along with the anachronisms: We have to jump, for instance, right from a medley of sacred songs into "Reindeer Rap," with Santa in shades. Timed differently and placed elsewhere, it could have been funny.

The show is still cute, especially with the toddlers (as young as 3) gamely singing "The Little Drummer Boy." On the other end of the spectrum, singers Nicki Peek and Lynette Deveraux seduce Mr. Claus amusingly with "Santa Baby," while Denise Hadland brings all the kitsch and small-town mood to a halt with a serious, moving rendition of the "Carol of the Bells."

* "Christmas at the Depot," La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid, La Habra. Friday-Saturday and Dec. 21 and 22, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 23. $7.50-$10. (310) 905-9708. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.

The South Coast Chorale, a Los Angeles County-based gay and lesbian chorus, will give two performances of its 1994 "Christmastime" concert at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach.

Performances are scheduled Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. at the Center, 6200 Atherton St. Tickets are priced from $17 to $20.

In addition, the Chorale will give a free holiday performance at the Long Beach Main Library, 101 Pacific Ave., Sunday at 4 p.m.

Information: (310) 985-7000.

Some clubs want to be underground, but it takes more than an unlisted phone number to qualify. Downtown's 50 Bucks, a performance space/art gallery connected to a Latino pool hall, is the genuine article.Not only does it carry on the underground tradition of good music, questionable location and bathrooms bordering on the scary, but the performances are also unannounced.

No matter. Club-goers show up en masse each time Rolo, the artist who runs 50 Bucks, puts on a show.

Thematically, 50 Bucks lies somewhere between "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Brazil." Silver-wrapped air ducts wind across the room's ceiling, while colorful underground poster art hangs on the walls and decorates the stage area.

Although Rolo doesn't exactly advertise events, he designs a limited run of hand-printed flyers for each. Those who caught a recent $2 show at 50 Bucks were treated to L.A. alternative bands Bob Sled, TVTV$ and Red Five -- who signed with Interscope Records last week.

The adjacent pool hall, Licha's Santa Fe Grill, provides the bonus of bringing together different cultures. While pool hall regulars stop by the gallery to hear some of L.A.'s top young bands, Licha's jukebox offers a who's who of Latino music to scenesters taking a break from the gallery's happenings. The cultural show and tell isn't going unrecognized by 50 Bucks. While upcoming punk shows include Youth Brigade, Wool and Lutefisk, a night of Latino ska bands is also in the works. Figuring out when is up to you.

* 50 Bucks at Licha's Santa Fe Grill, 2059 E. 7th St . 18 and over, $2 cover. 50 Bucks hot line (may or may not include exact dates): (310) CUT-FOOT. HEIDI SIEGMUND

When personal reasons prompted tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd to take a sudden, and lengthy, hiatus from the jazz scene in 1969, he was a bona fide star. In those days, he was known to both jazz and pop fans as a dynamic improviser and composer who was one of the most expressive and interesting disciples of the great John Coltrane.

Lloyd is now clearly back -- he re-emerged in the early '80s, but it's only in the last five years that he's been steadily active. And, while he may not yet be the major figure he once was, he is decidedly a masterful, and important, musician, one who plays in a unique and distinctive manner that still sometimes shows echoes of Coltrane.

Sharing billing with Cedar Walton's first-rate trio, Lloyd opened his first Los Angeles club date in more than 20 years Tuesday at Catalina Bar & Grill and was in complete command of his milieu. With his tone alternately rich and powerful then delicate and wispy, he wooed a sparse yet enthusiastic crowd with music that was often compelling and thrilling, delivering riveting solos that regularly built to dramatic peaks.

The performance was a sterling example of acoustic jazz that straddles the fence between freedom and structure, where melody is king but is now and then deposed by chaos. The audience was mostly with Lloyd, often reacting gustily with laughs, shouts of joy and plain head-bobbing. But occasionally listeners appeared distracted when the saxman played long passages that lacked center.

Lloyd, 56, and his cohorts -- the estimable pianist Walton, drum master Billy Higgins and solid bassist David Williams -- offered a deftly balanced program of lyrical originals, drawn mainly from "Acoustic Masters I," an album the foursome made last year for Atlantic Records. On the softer tunes such as "Lady Day," Lloyd played tenderly, then suddenly dropped in volatile outbursts. On the up-tempo cooker "Hommage," he comprised his solo of swoops, shouts and lines with hard rhythmic punch. His classic "Forest Flower" was a highlight.

Walton's threesome flawlessly supported Lloyd, and Higgins more than once anticipated a Lloyd ascent toward a climax, prodding and pushing the saxophonist, who responded with rapid sprays of colorful notes.

* Charles Lloyd, with Cedar Walton's trio, continues tonight through Sunday, 9 and 11 p.m., at Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. $14-$16 cover, two-drink minimum. Information: (213) 466-2210. ZAN STEWART

The problems of creating a full-evening ballet from "A Christmas Carol" seem obvious, but Northern Ballet Theatre develops resourceful strategies in a handsome BBC production airing twice tonight on A&E cable.

With no significant ballerina role and a miserly leading character who feels like dancing only at the very end, Charles Dickens' tale doesn't lend itself to classical choreography -- and Massimo Moricone doesn't force the issue. Instead, he defines Scrooge through pantomime, then has him move through a world (and memories) of dancing: formal yet lively social dances as well as rowdy, musical comedy-style numbers, plus a few none-too-impressive ballet interludes.

In addition, the cast keeps making good on the work's title by showing its prowess at choral singing, with the score by Carl Davis also incorporating plenty of familiar seasonal ditties in its instrumental passages. Tiny Tim (Ryan Ward) is a boy soprano in this version and Cratchit (William Walker) as adept at caroling as he is at high-flying batterie.

Unfortunately, Jeremy Kerridge's portrayal of Scrooge remains way off base: crudely monstrous in the opening scenes, then dissolving immediately into mindless sentimentality after viewing the supernatural lessons conjured up for his benefit.

The defective, incomplete review tape supplied by A&E contained only a fragment of the Christmas Future sequence, but enough remained of the final scene to display Kerridge's prowess at twitchy, eccentric character dancing.

Based on a stage production that boasted an atmospheric, revolving, two-level set by Lez Brotherston, the ballet has been adapted for television with an emphasis on spectral effects. Director Kriss Rusmanis often uses close-ups to enlarge performances that would look over-the-top even if you were sitting in the third balcony and the flow of the dancing is frequently lost as a result.

But the British company always looks spirited and well-schooled, and Rusmanis does preserve the staging's emphasis on the plight of the poor, a problem not to be resolved by just one miser's conversion.

* Northern Ballet Theatre dances "A Christmas Carol" tonight at 6 and 10 on A&E cable.

Soprano Dale Kristien of "Phantom of the Opera" fame will present two holiday gala concerts to benefit the Pasadena Playhouse, at the Playhouse on Dec. 22-23.

Critixx Restaurant, adjacent to the theater, is offering a festive dinner in conjunction with the event.

Tickets for the concert and dinner are $100; tickets for the concert only are $50.

Information: (818) 792-8672, ext. 266.

It isn't often that a visitor is greeted at the gallery door by two dozen squawking chickens -- much less chickens whose feathers have been colored lavender, baby pink, soft green and lemon sherbet. Welcome to Michael Oliveri's be-fowled sensorium at Crossing Gallery, full of edible pastels, rustling sawdust and pungent odors wafting indelicately through the air.

Less interested in making a spectacle of the chickens than of himself, Oliveri uses them as instruments of an elaborately infantile spoof. Under his wild-eyed supervision, they go on a metaphorical journey from happy-go-lucky barnyard beasts into the absurd stuff of art, and live to tell the tale.

This mildly but determinedly psychotic installation/performance adheres to a strict scenario. Oliveri begins with packaged poultry purchased at the supermarket. He loads them into the "chicken cannon ejector," a gleaming apparatus located on the gallery's ground floor. The dead birds are then shot up to the laboratory-cum-factory on the second floor, where they are separated and loaded into the "ACME Pollo-Doh Converter," which pulverizes them into sculpting material: Pollo-Doh.

The Pollo-Doh is stored in tanks and dispensed (quite like frozen yogurt) into cans, by day-laborers wearing official Pollo-Doh jumpsuits. After being sealed, the cans are sent back down a chute to the first floor, where they are displayed in the gallery window as pasteurized and homogenized art for the masses, at $60 a pop.

If Pollo-Doh is glop processed from chickens (and of course it really isn't; the hens are dumped upstairs, and replaced by a dry-wall compound), this project similarly grinds things up and reconceives them: Jeffrey Vallance's "Blinky the Friendly Hen," Piero Manzoni's signed and numbered cans of artist's excrement, Paul McCarthy by way of Jason Rhoades.

Like McCarthy, Oliveri seems to have a mean streak. But in the end, Oliveri's nastiness is all show: The chickens have been saved from the slaughterhouse, are colored with nontoxic food dye and are well cared for. This is tenderhearted anarchy, a relief, a contradiction in terms and provocative enough to pique an interest in this artist's still-nascent ideas.

* Crossing Gallery, 1104 S. La Cienega, (310) 358-9359, through Dec. 17. Closed Sunday and Monday.

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Fostering Dialogue: An exhibition relating to a major public art program, "Cultural Explainers: Portals, Bridges and Gateways," is now on view at the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). The exhibition consists of architectural models, photographs and texts that elucidate the physical structures and the working philosophy of an ambitious work-in-progress, organized by SPARC and ADOBE L.A., a group of Latino artists, designers and architects.

"Cultural Explainers" was conceived in the aftermath of the 1992 riots, as a way to foster dialogue among L.A.'s disparate ethnic communities, specifically those hardest hit by the events: Korean Americans, African Americans and Latino Americans. Through workshops, the members of these communities have interacted with artists named by SPARC to collaborate on three large-scale public monuments.

The monuments will be exchanged among the communities they are designed to represent, before being installed in permanent sites (yet to be determined) in Koreatown, Pico-Union and South-Central Los Angeles.

The "Cultural Explainers" monuments take very specific forms. The Koreatown structure, which is to be built first, will mimic a traditional pyong poong , or folding screen. The Pico-Union monument is inspired by the Pre-Columbian Mayan arches found in Southern Mexico and Central America. The South-Central L.A. monument will consist of 12 poles akin to the ancestral poles in Yoruba culture. All three will incorporate reliefs, panels or tiles bearing images relating to the history of the community in question.

Multiculturalism, as conceived here, is a highly romantic proposition, with its embrace of Otherness and emphasis on elective affinities. To refer to these monuments as portals, bridges and gateways is to promulgate yet another romantic metaphor -- this time, for cross-cultural understanding.

For all the valuable collaborative processes undergone, this project begs the question of its own Utopianism. What kind of art object can explain one culture to another? Such an object, no matter how necessary, is likely an idealist fiction.

* Social and Public Art Resource Center, 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, (310) 822-9560, through Dec. 22. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

*

Over-the-Top: The title of Terri Friedman's new show at Sue Spaid Fine Art is like a tabloid headline from which you try to avert your eyes, but find -- horrified -- that you cannot.

"Sunny von Bulow is Still Alive!" Friedman fervently proclaims. At once Von Bulow's champion and a dazzlingly creative parasite, sucking what life remains out of this 14-year coma victim, Friedman displays a flair for exploitation matched only by a knack for finely festooned fussiness. Everything here is way, way over-the-top.

If Rubens chronicled the triumph of Maria de' Medici in his famous cycle of paintings, Friedman chronicles the tragi-comedy of this moribund heiress in a series of fantastic assemblages. These are gorgeous to the point of gagging, full of glitter, beads, gold leaf, mirrors and cut glass, with pink fluorescent light to perk up the gallery's ghastly pallor.

Gagging isn't a problem, of course: These pieces come fully equipped, much like the room at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in which Von Bulow has long been ensconced. Life-sustaining substances are everywhere.

These include air blown from a black-and-white striped fan into a series of black-and-white striped shopping bags, affixed to the fan by a network of artfully twisted black-and-white striped wire (an homage to the salubrious effects of shopping at Henri Bendel's); and sparkling water, an essential fluid for those enamored of glitz, which flows through plastic tubes snaking across the floor into an oversized hospital beaker, bubbling with yet more of the glittering stuff.

In a statement that accompanies the show, Friedman describes Von Bulow as a "decorated living corpse," freshly dressed and made-up each morning. Friedman's fascination with the Von Bulow story is easily explained: It allows her an out for work that otherwise might be praised as meticulously crafted and exquisite, but rather vacant.

The gambit works, if you are willing to discount the tastelessness of it all. Certainly someone who could create "Sunny Sideways With Oxygen," which features an electrically induced sunrise, repeated rhythmically until the plug is pulled, is loath to consider anything so boring as good taste. Her shamelessness is embarrassingly seductive.

* Sue Spaid Fine Art, 7454 1/2 Beverly Blvd., (213) 935-6153, through Dec. 24. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

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A Glance Back: "CoBrA Revisited," at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, features paintings, drawings and prints produced over a 40-year span by artists once associated with this post-war European movement.

Founded in 1948 as one of the many splinter groups of the international Surrealist movement, CoBrA (whose name is derived from Co penhagen, Br ussels and A msterdam) lasted a scant three years, before evolving into the Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus, which itself eventually transmuted into the better-known (if equally doomed) Situationist International.

Fascinating historically -- especially when counter-posed to the monolithic "triumph of American painting," which occurred at the same moment -- this parade of overlapping, decomposing, European avant-gardes boasts very interesting work. The most important member of CoBrA, Asger Jorn, is an obscure figure in this country. His paintings conjure those of Jackson Pollock in terms of their masses of color and nervous doodling; his tendency toward a perverse ornamentalism, however, is unique.

Like Jorn, Corneille is rarely exhibited here, though he is currently enjoying a renaissance in Europe. His obsessively patterned surfaces and faux naivete suggest Dubuffet crossed with Peter Max.

Far more familiar are Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky. The former's exuberant canvases are remarkably consistent, whether paint is pulled over the surface, as thick and delicious as taffy, or whether the surface is composed of a patchwork of brightly colored pieces of felt. Alechinsky is amply represented, and offers the stand-out works: a series of antique stock certificates overlaid with calligraphic flourishes, which reconcile Conceptual art with unrepentant decoration and feel wonderfully, surprisingly new.

* Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 357 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 938-5222, through Jan. 14. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

*

Sal and Amanda Gecko, lounge lizards extraordinaire, invite you into their tinseled living room to celebrate the season. As they eagerly await an invitation to play Vegas on New Year's Eve, the Geckos share their dreams, their disappointments and their nightclub act with the audience at the Gem Theatre in Garden Grove.

They don't share any of their well-stocked bar, but "Jack Daniels nipping at the nose" aptly describes the state of mind and humor of our over-the-top holiday hosts in "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko."

As Sal and Amanda, George Quick and Beth Hansen camp it up in outrageous wigs and costumes that go Dolly Parton and your weird Uncle Bob one better. Backed up by Terry Alaric on piano and Randy Woltz on drums, they do an accomplished job of singing badly, sliding around those pitches like sledders on freshly fallen snow. Hansen embellishes her longer notes with a vibrato like a jackhammer.

Still, the performers can't beef up the material, which might constitute a cute skit but stretches to the breaking point here. There are no new jokes after the first couple of songs.

* "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko," Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees at 2:30. Ends Dec . 18. $16-$18.50. (714) 636-7213. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes. M.E. WARREN

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

*

Pocket-sized, with a shoestring budget and an uneven cast, "Miracle on 34th Street" at the tiny Actors Workout Studio, won't make anyone forget that other "Miracle."

The adaptation of Valentine Davies' book, written by Tom Hall (who directs) and LL Young, is faithful enough, covering the high points -- the hiring of mysterious Kris Kringle (veteran actor Bennes Mardenn, who looks remarkably authentic) as Macy's Santa, the burgeoning romance between practical Doris (Laura Lynne Young) and idealistic lawyer Fred (Nick McGuire), Kris' confrontation with store psychologist Mr. Sawyer (Victor Nawrocki), the conversion of little Susan (Rachel Alice) from pragmatist to dreamer and the Santa sanity hearing.

With the actors at varying levels of experience, however, and not yet comfortable with the play's dialogue, the proceedings at a recent matinee were more earnest than involving. It wasn't until the courtroom climax, with its case-clinching mail delivery, that the cast rallied as an ensemble and worked up some true holiday cheer.

* "Miracle on 34th Street," Actors Workout Studio, 4735 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood . Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Dec. 19-22, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 22. $5-$12. (213) 662-7900. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. LYNNE HEFFLEY

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

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"Yuletide Stories," a trio of one-acts at the Burbage Theatre, isn't likely to kindle much holiday spirit.

While each of these playlets from Zeitgeist Theatre Company is based on a Christmas theme, only one could credibly be called a story. Perhaps "Seasonal Situations" didn't have the same ring.

The best by far is Elias Stimac's charming "Wonderful Life." Beth (Jill Greenwood) is a worldly novelist bumped from a holiday flight home, Timothy (Stimac) a nebbishy ticket agent who invites himself to her hotel room to cheer her up.

It's a corny and obvious setup. But Stimac's unassuming nature, as both writer and actor, is completely disarming. He gives Timothy a winning mix of innocence (he still gets excited by Christmas trees and eggnog) and shrewdness (he deliberately bumped Beth from that flight). Unfortunately, Jillian Twigger's direction lacks pizazz.

Stimac fares less well with his script for "A-Carolling," a vexingly pointless sketch about three young women who go caroling to meet eligible bachelors. Their jaunt is punctuated by lots of arguing and complaining, all in laborious preparation for a throwaway punch line. Dana Vitatoe directed.

Next to Stimac's contemporary work, Lucy Lee Flippin's "Three Ships" looks out of place -- a feminist comedy set in a medieval British castle. Three ladies-in-waiting celebrate Christmas with their wise and wisecracking mentor, Ute (Flippin). Flippin, who also directed, should have stuck to a simpler idea and a more familiar context.

* "Yuletide Stories," Burbage Theatre, 2330 Sawtelle Blvd., West Los Angeles. Fridays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Dark Dec. 18-Jan. 5. Ends Jan. 21. $15. (310) 478-0897. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes. SCOTT COLLINS

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

*

Dickens Lite comes nicely packaged in South Coast Repertory's 15th annual production of "A Christmas Carol." The show has all the Yuletide trimmings: radiant party scenes, sentimental warmth, holiday music and, of course, a glowing tale of moral transformation.

Hal Landon Jr. is back for his perennial star turn as Ebenezer Scrooge, playing the world's nastiest penny-pincher with the ease of a practiced meanie. His bony face, minus last year's grizzly white beard, conveys with a single frown all we need to know about this hardhearted "miser's miser."

Under John-David Keller's sharp direction, a large cast in full Victorian regalia fills out the stage with spirited performances. The magical set, abetted by atmospheric lighting and a vivid sound design, offers special effects guaranteed to entertain adults while scaring the daylights out of small children.

A Southern California institution by now, SCR's "A Christmas Carol" ranks as a cultural rite of passage as surely as grad night at Disneyland.

* "A Christmas Carol," South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Fridays, 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, noon and 4 p.m.; matinees Dec. 20 and 22, 2:30 p.m.; Dec. 24, noon and 4 p.m. Ends Dec. 24. $22-$29. (714) 957-4033. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

* 'CAROL' AS A BALLET

A dance interpretation of "A Christmas Carol" on TV. F8 JAN HERMAN

Some Christmas plays are heartwarming. Others are rib-tickling. Still others are time-wasting. Here are reviews of just a few of the holiday-themed theatrical offerings in Southern California.

*

Here's a Christmas comedy for the age of the daytime talk show: "The X-Mas Files," in which eight very articulate, anthropomorphized reindeer take the stage to discuss the terrible scandal that has so polarized opinions at the North Pole.

Children should not read this review, let alone see this show. Santa Claus has been more than naughty; he's accused of raping Vixen and molesting Rudolph.

Jeff Goode's series of monologues is tasteless, of course, but it's also wickedly funny for those who can drop their defenses. And most of it is acted with such conviction in Allison Gendreau's staging at Hudson BackStage that you might start to take it seriously -- until you remember who we're talking about.

It helps that the reindeer are such a varied lot -- as expressed in their costumes as well as their performances. It might help even more if the play were crowned with testimony from the Fat Boy (in Dasher's words) himself. Although Comet mounts a brief defense of Santa, generally this show will make you want to plug up your chimney on Christmas Eve.

* "The X-Mas Files," Hudson BackStage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tuesday, Wednesday and Dec. 20, 8 p.m. $7. (213) 851-4355. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes. DON SHIRLEY

The exclusive Ventura County music charts are compiled for The Times from information supplied by SoundScan Inc., the music industry's leading sales-reporting service. The rankings are based on actual sales in Ventura County. TOP 20 ALBUMS 03,04,44,11 Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Miracles, The Holiday Album, Kenny G (1) 1 2 Hell Freezes Over, Eagles (4) 2 3 Unplugged In New York, Nirvana (5) 4 4 Smash, Offspring (7) 5 5 Bootlegs & B-sides, Ice Cube (31) 8 6 Merry Christmas, Mariah Carey (3) 3 7 II, Boyz II Men (2) 6 8 Dookie, Green Day (8) 9 9 Duets II, Frank Sinatra (10) 7 10 Best Of, Sade (18) 15 11 Wildflowers, Tom Petty (11) 12 12 Tuesday Night Music Club, Sheryl Crow (23) 12 13 Purple, Stone Temple Pilots (27) -- 14 Soundtrack, The Lion King (6) 14 15 Monster, R.E.M. (13) 16 16 Soundtrack, Murder Was The Case (19) 18 17 Greatest Hits, Bob Seger (17) -- 18 No Need To Argue, Cranberries (14) 17 19 Bedtime Stories, Madonna (24) -- 19 Fields of Gold, Sting (21) 10 TOP 20 SINGLES 03,04,43,11 Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Here Comes the Hotstepper, Ini Kamoze (1) 1 2 I Wanna Be Down, Brandy (7) 6 3 On Bended Knee, Boys II Men (3) 3 4 Playaz Club Remix, Rappin' 4-Tay (28) 4 5 Creep, TLC (2) 5 6 Another Night, Real McCoy (4) 13 7 All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow (15) 8 8 Tootsee Roll, 69 Boyz (6) 2 8 Before I Let You Go, Blackstreet (8) 14 10 Secret, Madonna (14) 9 11 Always, Bon Jovi (5) 11 12 Fa All Y'All, Da Brat (20) -- 13 Never Lie, Immature (18) 10 14 Turn the Beat Around, Gloria Estefan (16) -- 15 Practice What You Preach, Barry White (9) 18 15 Short...Man, Twenty Fingers (11) 7 17 You Want This, Janet Jackson (13) -- 18 Stroke You Up, Changing Faces (11) -- 19 Constantly, Immature (22) 19 18 At Your Best (You Are Love), Aaliyah (31) -- Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Dec. 4

For most people, holidays equal tradition -- and that holds just as true for public events as it does for private rituals.

So if it's Yuletide in Orange County, that must mean boat parades and choral con certs, another round of "The Glory of Christmas" at the Crystal Cathedral and more productions of the "Nutcracker" than you can shake a toe shoe at.

There are a few new choices this time around, however, most notably on the theater scene. So, not only is there the perennial "A Christmas Carol" at South Coast Repertory, with the wonderful Hal Landon Jr. returning as Scrooge, but there is also "Inspecting Carol" at Laguna Playhouse, in which a small theater's production of the Dickens classic devolves into a living illustration of chaos theory.

Here's a sampling of holiday treats around the county, with selections to satisfy the tastes of both the tradition-minded and those in search of something new. A broader list of upcoming shows can be found in the Holiday Events section of the 11-Day Calendar, beginning on page 32. Stage

Daniel Sullivan, head of the respected Seattle Repertory Theatre and chief author of "Inspecting Carol," claims he loves "A Christmas Carol" -- but there's no denying that his play pokes some fun at the venerable holiday chestnut, at least as performed by the fictitious Soapbox Theatre.

The struggling company is hoping its 13th offering of the play will bring back some of its dwindling audience, and is also counting on a sizable government grant. The plot thickens when a neophyte actor who auditions for the production is mistaken for an undercover NEA official come to check out the company.

Andy Hedden plays the neophyte, Wayne Wellacre, in the Laguna Playhouse production of the play, which Times reviewer Jan Herman called "hands down the funniest show I've seen all year."

Hedden's experience with a variety of local theater groups helps him relate to the disastrous goings-on in "Inspecting Carol." "Some of the characters in the play are not too far from people I have worked with over the years," Hedden said. He recalls one children's theater group in particular "that was very, very similar to the Soapbox . . . (with) a lot of weird, demented people who make you wonder how they all got there at the same time. It's like a bad Fellini movie."

The play operates on several levels, he said, with sharply written farce that works for a general audience and lots of in-humor that works "if you're a theater person or have any theater involvement." It has been a big hit, he said: "Every night is just a rip, a sterling audience."

If anyone wants the real thing, there is, of course, SCR's "Carol," a fixture that may trail only the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters as an Orange County performance tradition. This year, "Carol" (first produced at SCR in 1980) will be joined by something new, a musical play by Octavio Solis called "La Posada Magica" that will begin previews on the theater's Second Stage on Friday. The regular run is Wednesday through Dec. 24.

The world premiere -- which received $120,000 in grants from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund -- is the second play by Solis to be produced on SCR's Second Stage. The first, "Man of the Flesh," was developed through the company's Hispanic Playwrights Project. His "Scrappers" has toured local schools as part of an SCR outreach program.

"La Posada Magica," which includes a dozen songs by Marcos Loya, tells the story of a rebellious teen-age girl who no longer feels the Christmas spirit but finds a surprising renewal of hope. The play is based loosely on the posada , a traditional Latin American neighborhood procession that re-creates the story of Mary and Joseph's search for an inn.

Solis told The Times that the play is "for people who feel they've been left behind by Christmas. . . . 'La Posada Magica' requires a childlike imagination to buy into it." SCR spokesman Cris Gross said that, in addition to the Second Stage production, the play will be performed at three locations in Orange County for community audiences. He said the plan is to make "La Posada" a perennial addition to the holiday slate.

One longtime holiday stage tradition was lost when GroveShakespeare bit the dust last year. However, "A Child's Christmas in Wales" has been resurrected in more modest form as "A Welsh Christmas," staged readings of the Dylan Thomas story along with songs, poems and stories, on Sunday and Monday. Many of the cast members from the GroveShakespeare production will take part, including Gary Bell, Marnie Crosson and Danny Oberbeck.

In a similar vein is a Shakespeare Orange County production called "A Shakespearean Christmas," with sonnets and songs. It plays Dec. 15 through 22.

And, of course, there's "The Glory of Christmas," Crystal Cathedral's high-tech pageant spectacle, which retells the story of Christ's birth with flying angels and live animals -- horses, camels and sheep, to be specific. It plays through Dec. 30.

* "Inspecting Carol" through Dec. 18 at Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. $17 to $22. (714) 497-9244.

* "A Christmas Carol" through Dec. 24 at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $22 to $29. (714) 957-4033.

* "La Posada Magica" opens previews Friday with a regular run Wednesday through Dec. 24 on the Second Stage at South Coast Repertory. $10 to $22. (714) 957-4033.

* "A Welsh Christmas" Sunday and Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Garden Grove Historical Society, 12174 Euclid Ave., Garden Grove. Free. (714) 530-8871.

* "A Shakespearean Christmas" Dec. 15 to 22 at Chapman University's Waltmar Theatre, 301 E. Palm St., Orange. $16 to $20. (714) 744-7016.

* "The Glory of Christmas" through Dec. 30 at the Crystal Cathedral, 12141 Lewis St., Garden Grove. $18 to $30. (714) 544-5679.

Among other productions on tap for the local stage scene are three more takes on the "Christmas Carol" legacy.

* "Scrooge" through Dec. 18 at the Yorba Linda Forum Theatre, 4175 Fairmont Ave., Yorba Linda. $12 to $14. (714) 779-1932.

* A musical version of "A Christmas Carol" by the Nebraska Theatre Caravan on Dec. 17 at 4 and 8 p.m. in the Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. $12 to $20. (714) 432-5880.

* "A Christmas Carol" through Dec. 19 at the Camino Real Playhouse, 31776 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. $5 to $10. (714) 489-8082.

* "Christmas With Sal and Amanda Gecko," a Vegas-themed satire, through Sunday at the Gem Theatre, 12582 Main St., Garden Grove. $15 to $18. (714) 636-7213.

* "A Christmas Memory," by Truman Capote, through Dec. 24 at Alternative Repertory Theatre, 1636 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. $16 ($13.50 with food or new toy donation). (714) 836-7929.

* "Greetings," a family drama through Dec. 18 at the Way Off Broadway Playhouse, 1058 E. 1st St., Santa Ana. $13.50 ($12.50 with canned food donation). (714) 547-8997.

* "Christmas at the Depot," a musical revue through Dec. 23 at La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid, La Habra. $7.50-$10. (310) 905-9625.

And for the children:

* "Babes in Toyland" through Dec. 18 at Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. $8-$10. (714) 631-0288. Events

Holiday parades in Orange County often have an aquatic nature, as in the Newport Harbor Boat Parade -- now in its 86th year. The 2 1/2-hour parade features about 200 boats, from canoes to luxury yachts, festooned with lights and often elaborately decorated. This year, the parade (beginning nightly at 6:30 p.m.) runs Dec. 17 through 23.

The parade is visible from many points on the harbor, but grandstand seating is available. Tickets are $5 to $7.

Other boat parades are set in Dana Point, Huntington Harbour and even in Yorba Linda's East Lake Village. On land, there's the Laguna Niguel Holiday Parade with gymnast Peter Vidmar as grand marshal.

The Laguna Niguel parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and travels Crown Valley Parkway from Nueva Vista to Crown Valley Community Park. Featured will be drill teams, equestrian units and more than 15 marching bands. A festival with game and food booths and entertainment runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the park, 29751 Crown Valley Parkway. Admission is free. For information, call (714) 550-4636, Ext. 426.

The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art will offer its version of La Posada on Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m., with music and storytelling. The museum is at 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, and admission to the event is free. Information: (714) 567-3600. Music

What's Christmas without some old-fashioned choral concerts -- and at least one rendition of Handel's "Messiah"? The Orange County Performing Arts Center has a variety of offerings in the coming weeks.

First up, on Saturday at 8 p.m., is "Reflections of Christmas" with the Master Chorale, a children's chorus and the Master Chorale Brass Ensemble. The event features an audience sing-along, and there will be carolers in the lobby. Tickets are $15 to $40.

The holiday tradition celebrated in the second center offering is a Mexican one. Fiesta Navidad, on Sunday at 3 p.m., features Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Ballet Folklorico Olin and Ballet Folklorico de UCLA. $13 to $30.

The Pacific Symphony has several center events on Dec. 17. First, at 10 and 11:30 a.m., is a holiday concert for young listeners, "Tinseltown: A Holiday at the Movies," which will include works celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah. $8 to $10. At 3:30 p.m., the Pacific Symphony presents the "Messiah," with conductor Richard Westerfield, guest soloists and the Pacific Chorale. $14 to $63.

The Pacific Chorale presents its holiday concert Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m., with a preconcert lecture at 6:30 p.m. The program includes selections from around the world. $20 to $100.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center is at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. For information on center events, call (714) 556-2787.

Choral concerts and other musical events will be offered through the season at dozens of local churches (check the 11-Day Calendar for details). Other holiday musical events cover the spectrum, from classical to jazz:

* The UCI Chamber Singers present their annual Madrigal Dinner Friday through Dec. 18 on the Fine Arts Village Theatre stage at UC Irvine. $29.50-$41. (714) 854-6616.

* Shirley Jones will sing a holiday program Saturday at 8 p.m. at Plummer Auditorium, 218 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton. $20-$30. (714) 879-1732.

* Tony Guerrero will headline a jazzy Christmas program on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Cafe Concerto Restaurant, Coffee Bar & Concert House, 2675 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa. $10 (plus one canned food item, or new toys or clothing). (714) 222-1616. Dance

As in seasons past, there are "Nutcrackers" galore, so it's possible for the diligent to make enough trips to Candyland to rack up frequent flyer miles. But there are no major touring companies in the county this season, as there have been in the past (American Ballet Theatre was last year's representative in Segerstrom Hall).

Among the top local offerings, Ballet Pacifica has done the holiday favorite for 28 years but has come up with a new production for this run, Dec. 16 through 24 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. $13-$16. (714) 824-5000.

Coast Ballet Theatre presents its "Nutcracker" Dec. 15 through 18 in the McKinney Theatre at Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. $9-$11. (714) 582-4656.

If Dan Quayle thinks he is presidential timber, maybe he should stop tilting at fictitious windmills like Murphy Brown and take on somebody who actually is somebody, and a pretty formidable somebody at that.

In a culture-wars tussle with Rosalie Sorrels, he surely would have all he could handle -- that is, if he didn't find himself so charmed and engaged by the sheer warmth and crusty strength of character of this veteran of the grass-roots traditional folk circuit that he conceded the podium to her.

Sorrels, a great-grandmother at 61, will have the podium to herself when she performs one of her distinctive song-and-narrative concerts Saturday at Ball Junior High School in Anaheim.

The Idaho woman's remarkable life story and her achievements as a singer and storytelling font of wisdom have led some highly placed people in the folk world to describe her in the most glowing terms.

Nanci Griffith called her a "living legend" in "Ford Econoline," a song chronicling Sorrels' decision in 1966 to get out of an untenable marriage, taking her five children with her as she forged a new life as a self-supporting, folk-singing single mom. Last month, Pete Seeger described Sorrels as a "national treasure" in a letter nominating her for a $10,000 folk heritage fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

"Her love, her humor, her wisdom set a good example for all of us," Seeger wrote.

Those qualities were evident in Sorrels' two previous Orange County concerts, in 1992 and 1993. They are deeply embedded in her performances, having been tested by hard experience. Sorrels' life never was the fairy tale implied in Griffith's breezy song. One of her sons committed suicide (Sorrels memorialized him in a moving song, "Sing Like the Rain (Last Song for David)"; the other did some jail time for burglary. She has been tested, not cloistered, and it gives her art all the more authority and poignancy.

Sorrels' core concern on recent albums has been family values -- but she doesn't treat it as the rhetorical abstraction of the politician. She turns the concept into the knotty, ambiguous living thing that family is, drawing on memories of her grandparents and parents and working in the memorable writings of her mother, Nancy Stringfellow, a Boise, Ida., bookstore owner who died this year at 84. Children -- how they should be taught and the kind of world that adults are making for them -- figure greatly in such recent Sorrels albums as "Be Careful, There's a Baby in the House" (1991) and this year's "What Does It Mean to Love?"

Sorrels, who records for the small, traditional folk label Green Linnet, was scheduled to record a new album this week in San Francisco before coming to Southern California for a series of weekend shows. The album, said her manager (and daughter), Jacqueline Murray, will be a collection of songs, rather than the mixture of music and narrative heard on her recent albums. Sorrels also is still at work on a long-term project, a one-woman play she hopes to produce and perform, based on the life and music of Malvina Reynolds, the activist and folk singer known for "Turn Around" (the song that starts, "Where are you going my little one, little one?") and "What Have They Done to the Rain?"

When the time comes for somebody to do a film or play on Sorrels, there will be no lack of fascinating material. In the meantime, there's the chance to get a taste of this rare performer who can turn a concert into something approaching a heart-to-heart talk.

* Who: Rosalie Sorrels.

* When: Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m.

* Where: Ball Junior High School, 1500 W. Ball Road, Anaheim.

* Whereabouts: Take the Santa Ana (5) Freeway to the Harbor Boulevard exit; go north to the first traffic light, Ball Road, and turn left. Ball Junior High School is on the left (south) side of Ball Road, just past Hampstead Street and some railroad tracks.

* Wherewithal: $10; free for children 12 and under accompanied by an adult.

* Where to call: (714) 638-1466. MORE POP / FOLK

IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO: DICK DALE

Dale emerged as Orange County's first rock guitar hero when he invented the surf-rock sound some 35 years ago. Now his oldie "Miserlou" is featured in the hit film "Pulp Fiction." Dale fronts his power trio at the Coach House on Saturday, Dec. 10, with Cisco Poison opening. (714) 496-8930.

IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

This Virginia band plays the expansive, excursionary style of jam-rock associated with Blues Traveler and other H.O.R.D.E. tour acts, adding its own wrinkle by highlighting saxophone, violin and acoustic guitar. The band arrives at the Coach House tonight, Dec. 8. (714) 496-8930.

IN NEWPORT BEACH: NPG AND TROUBLE DOLLS

Two local bands team up for a double-bill at the Thunderbird dance club on Balboa Island. National Peoples Gang plays intense, theatrical and melodic music, while the recently revamped Trouble Dolls feature the tuneful, guitar-rock anthems of leader John Surge. (714) 675-6599.

The following are the top music sales in Orange County for the week of Dec. 4 as compiled by SoundScan Inc. Data is from retailers' sales. The bottom chart rotates weekly. Albums 03,46,11,08 Last week Nation 1. "Miracles, The Holiday Album," Kenny G. 1 1 2. "Hell Freezes Over," Eagles 2 4 3. "Merry Christmas," Mariah Carey 4 3 4. "Unplugged in New York," Nirvana 3 5 5. "Best of Sade," Sade 8 18 6. "Duets II," Frank Sinatra 6 10 7. "Fields of Gold," Sting 5 21 8. "II," Boyz II Men 7 2 9. "Dookie," Green Day 11 8 10. "Greatest Hits," Bob Seger -- 17 Singles 03,46,11,08 Last week Nation 1. "Here Comes the Hotstepper," Ini Kamoze 1 1 2. "Tootsie Roll," 69 Boyz 4 6 3. "On Bended Knee," Boyz II Men 2 3 4. "Playaz Club," Rappin' 4-Tay 3 28 5. "Another Night," Real McCoy 7 4 6. "Creep," TLC 11 2 7. "Short Dick Man," 20 Fingers 5 11 8. "I Wanna Be Down," Brandy 9 7 9. "Sukiyaki," 4 P.M. 6 33 10. "Secret," Madonna 8 14 Rap Albums 03,52,11,08 Last week Nation 1. "Bootlegs & B-Sides," Ice Cube 1 1 2. "Ill Communication," Beastie Boys 4 14 3. "Regulate ... G-Funk Era," Warren G. 5 7 4. "Creepin On Ah Come Up," Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 2 6 5. "Old School Vol. 5," various artists -- 65 6. "Tical," Method Man 8 4 7. "Diary," Scarface 7 3 8. "Very Necessary," Salt-N-Pepa -- 8 9. "Dare Iz a Darkside," Redman 6 5 10. "Amerikkka's Nightmare," Spice 3 2 Source: SoundScan

Nick Lowe

"Labour of Lust" (1979)

Columbia

"I made an American squirm, and it felt so right . . ." may be a popular sentiment nowadays among North Korean nuclear negotiators and Serbian warlords, but Nick Lowe had something a little earthier in mind on this lighthearted album, the second of his solo career. Lyrically, Lowe spent the 11 tracks addressing sex, drugs, sex, madness and sex again with a delightfully carefree sense of humor. Musically, he and Rockpile, his steady band of the late '70s, confected an irresistibly hummable blend of country- and R&B-tinged roots music and Beatles-inspired guitar rock. Guitarists Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner spun off solos that are effortless-sounding but cannily crafted models of pithy brilliance. The album's modes range from bright pop-anthem productions that ride along on chiming ranks of acoustic guitars and swelling harmonies (including "American Squirm" and "Cruel to Be Kind," the only Top 40 hit of Lowe's career) to the solo-acoustic strum of the mock-sincere, cheatin' heart ballad, "You Make Me." On that one, Lowe's excuse-making protagonist sounds seriously contrite until a deliberately ungrammatical rhyme in the final verse wryly undercuts his apologies: "See, I haven't losed my love/I'm just confused by love/You make me."

Every track is something to savor. Among the highlights are "Cracking Up," which sounds like a dryly English response to the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," delivered in the accent of a befuddled, working-class Brit who complains of all the pressures he's under and grouses, funnily, "I don't think it's funny no more."

"Skin Deep" ends Side One with a momentarily sobered, but still very clever, look at the prospects of relationships founded only on mutual attraction: "It's just belly to belly, but never eye to eye/A moment to treasure is just a matter of time." But Side Two finds Lowe rollicking along merrily with "Switch Board Susan" and "Love So Fine." These randy, high-spirited anthems are full of crass double-entendres and less veiled expressions of carnal appreciation that only those terminally-afflicted with political correctness could find offensive. This ain't the 2 Live Crew; it's boyish pop innocence with cheek. MIKE BOEHM

Nick Lowe

"The Impossible Bird"

Upstart

Nick Lowe was instrumental in the birth of independent, anti-corporate rock. In 1976, the first single of his solo career, "So It Goes"/"Heart of the City," was the first release by Stiff Records, the British label that soon gave us the Lowe-produced Elvis Costello and presaged punk's rebellion against an excess of pomp and polish in '70s rock. Cycles of popularity having spun around, Lowe is back on an independent label -- the fledgling, Rounder-distributed Upstart Records -- for the first time since that era. "The Impossible Bird" (only his fourth solo album in the past 10 years) is a low-key affair that isn't seeking to ignite any new pop revolutions, but it continues the unassuming mastery that Lowe has displayed in such relatively recent work as "The Rose of England" (1985) and his previous outing, "Party of One" (1990).

On "The Impossible Bird," Lowe gets help from a band of unsung players expert enough to give the album a loose, easygoing, off-the-cuff feel without succumbing to sloppiness. Geraint Watkins sweetens the ballads with warm, gospel-soul organ, while guitarist Bill Kirchen, a former Commander Cody accomplice, plays in a stuttering, laid-back style reminiscent of J.J. Cale. Most of the songs gurgle or twang along in a Southern-roots groove that borrows simultaneously from soulful R&B sources and the rockin' side of country music. Lowe also strives on several songs for the stark, acoustic simplicity that marks "American Recordings," the recent record by Johnny Cash. He offers his own version of "The Beast in Me," a Lowe original that Cash covered on "American Recordings." But the Man in Black, who was Lowe's father-in-law when Lowe was married to Carlene Carter, was much more convincing in putting across the song's tormented introspection than its fundamentally amiable composer.

While it's Lowe who sports a fowl's foot on the album cover, the impossible bird he's talking about seems to be the human female: The album is mainly about his inability to keep one or more of them from breaking his heart. Realizing that you can't make love-gone-rotten sink in emotionally unless you've first allowed for a glimpse of love-so-fine, Lowe includes a couple of glowing ballads in the album's first half. "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" is a winsome country/soul hybrid written by A.L. Owens and Dallas Frazier, and Lowe's own "Shelley My Love" is a sweetly crooned valentine that Paul McCartney should kick himself for not having thought it up first.

Lowe keeps his characteristic wit about him as the mood darkens. In "Where's My Everything?" he shades a lamenting lyric with a humorous, hang-dog delivery. And "Drive-Thru Man" offsets wistful sentiments with lighthearted allusions to Cash's signature deep baritone.

Lowe is capable of edgier feelings, such as the roiling tension of "I Live on a Battlefield" and the bitter streak that finds its way into the mellow lament "14 Days." By the end, spirits revived, he moves on down the road to the brisk, twangy guitar rhythms of an affirmatively romantic Ray Price oldie, "I'll Be There." The only real impossibility on this album lies in trying to resist the gently seductive pop charms of the crafty old bird who made it. MIKE BOEHM

Big-band fans can now glamour it up twice a week at Club Max in Costa Mesa's Red Lion Hotel. With the success of Sundays, Tuesday nights have been added, featuring the John Henderson Orchestra.

This tuxedo-clad, 16-piece ensemble uses polished brass and a heavy backbeat to revive classic American pop tunes of the '30s and '40s. The band blends greener musicians with veteran players who jammed with the likes of Harry James and Stan Kenton as well as Red Nichols and the Five Pennies. On lead microphone are crooners Henderson, Warren Gayle and Leigh Downs.

Sunday regulars are probably familiar with Henderson's group, which alternates that day with the Tracy Wells Orchestra. Couples and singles dance and mingle in this intimate, chandelier-lit club and lounge. The dance parties, said big-band promoter Bud Morris, offer single seniors a chance to get acquainted. (In fact, he met his wife, Ginny, here.)

As on Sundays, Tuesdays primarily attract the senior set, but anyone who loves to dance is encouraged to cut the ballroom rug in a setting that recalls a more dazzling, romantic era.

And there's no need for first-timers to be intimidated by all of the fancy footwork on the crowded dance floor. Getting into the swing of things can be half the fun. Sunday afternoon group lessons with dance instructor Jan Mongrell can get you doing the fox trot, tango, rumba, waltz and other ballroom dances in no time. After an hour of lessons comes four hours of live entertainment, from 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays also offer a complimentary buffet of cheese, fruit and raw veggies.

Tuesdays offer no lessons or buffet but include a happy hour from 5 to 8 p.m. Prices include $2 for wine, $1.50 for drafts and $2.50 for well drinks. Regular prices are $4 for wine, $3 for drafts and $3.25 to $5.25 for well drinks. Mineral water, juice and sodas are $1.95 to $2.25. Three hours of live music begin at 7:30 p.m.

Appetizers such as cheese-stuffed jalapeno peppers, buffalo shrimp and onion rings run $3.25 to $5.25 both days, and dinner is served in the hotel's two restaurants next to the club.

The room also includes two pool tables and televised sports, but among the soft-shoe crowd, such fare is overwhelmingly ignored.

Footnote: A pre-New Year's Eve dance party to benefit the Alzheimer's Assn. of Orange County will be held Dec. 29 at the Red Lion Ballroom. Tickets are $14.50 advance or $16.50 at the door. Call (714) 540-7000, Ext. 4980.

* CLUB MAX, at the Red Lion Hotel

* 3050 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

* (714) 540-7000.

* Big bands play Tuesdays from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 6 p.m.

* Cover: $7 on Tuesdays, $8 on Sundays.

Music lovers of a certain generation -- namely, mine -- discovered Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" through the Disney film "Fantasia" (1940).

Disney's horrific image of the blind-eyed, bat-winged devil Chernobog towering over the mountain as Mussorgsky's music surges and whirls provides plenty of excitement (not to mention nightmare material) and captures the score wonderfully.

But the music isn't really what Mussorgsky wrote, says Daniel Lochrie, whose version of the piece will be heard for the first time tonight at Pacific Symphony's concert in Costa Mesa.

As was usual with the innovative, erratic, dipsomaniacal genius, most of Mussorgsky's music became best known through the editions of others. Some of his innovations were considered too bold and were toned down; other works he left in fragmentary form.

"Fantasia" incorporates the traditional version of "Bald Mountain" edited by Rimsky-Korsakov, further arranged by Leopold Stokowski, who conducted it for the film.

"Rimsky changed notes and whole key areas," Lochrie says.

"He omitted two themes -- the devil's and also the church choir (at the end). He replaced development sections with added repetition. He toned down the orchestration in general. He toned down the harmonic language so there is less dissonance."

Lochrie wanted to get back to the composer's original ideas. In doing so, he found a complicated and tangled history, which emerged as his doctoral dissertation at Ohio State University in 1992.

"I hadn't planned to finish my doctorate," says Lochrie, clarinetist with the Nashville Symphony. "I was buying time until I could get an orchestra job. But I was doing a paper on 'Bald Mountain.' I discovered these problems, which created questions in my mind. I got interested in the topic, and that gave me a reason to finish the degree."

It all began around 1867 when Mussorgsky wrote an orchestral tone poem called "St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain." The work, which disappeared until the score was published in 1968, had not been performed -- "a real sore spot for him," Lochrie says. "He spoke highly of his own work in this case, which he rarely did."

Mussorgsky revised it in 1874 for an opera project, "Mlada," which was abandoned, and revised it again in 1880 as an insert to what would be his final opera, "Sorochinsky Fair."

But he only got as far as writing a version for piano four-hands and chorus. (The chorus, which came into play because this was an opera, "really is pretty secondary," Lochrie says.) Mussorgsky died a year later. Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrated "Night," while other composers completed the opera from sketches Mussorgsky left behind.

"People tended to take Rimsky-Korsakov's version of things, which was not always correct," Lochrie says. The difference between the first version and the "Fair" version is, Lochrie says, "extensive," but Rimsky didn't have the benefit of hearing the first version, which didn't surface until the late '60s. Lochrie did.

Lochrie decided to "orchestrate the last version, using the first version as a model. To me, that seems the most obvious part of the whole thing. I'm just amazed it didn't happen earlier."

There were places in the revision that were so different, however, that he couldn't rely on the earlier version. "In cases like that, I took similar passages from 'Boris (Gudunov),' . . . 'Sorochinsky Fair' and some similar things."

"Rimsky has a lot more repetition in it, but he cut a couple of themes. (My version) has more themes and less repetition. They end up being about the same length. The first 72 measures are the closest. After that, (mine) really gets to be quite different."

* What: Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," played by the Pacific Symphony, conducted by Carl St.Clair. Works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev also are on the program. Robert McDuffie will be the soloist.

* When: Today, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m.

* Where: The Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: San Diego (405) Freeway to Bristol Avenue exit north. Turn right from Bristol onto Town Center Drive.

* Wherewithal: $14 to $63.

* Where to call: (714) 556-2787. MORE MUSIC AND DANCE:

William Hall will lead the Master Chorale of Orange County in "Reflections of Christmas" Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. The audience will be asked to sing along on seasonal carols. (714) 556-2787.

Juan Talavera will present his flamenco music and dance troupe Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17, at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 18, at 4 p.m. at the Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Guest dancers will include Yolanda Arroyo, Lourdes Rodriguez, Lilia Llorens and Pepa Sevilla. Paco Arroyo will be the guitarist; Antonio de Jerez and Jesus Montoyo will sing. (714) 990-7722.

With four to five concerts a week and a full load of academics, the 26 members of the African Children's Choir don't have much time to veg out in front of the television. Not surprisingly, the group's organizers view that as a blessing.

"We don't allow our kids to watch TV, primarily because of the violence on American television," explained Norm Schulz, director of choir operations for Friends of the West, the Christian relief organization that sponsors the choir's international tours. "Considering where these children come from, they can't understand why we would want to watch people killing each other (on TV), anyway."

Hailing from villages across the east African republic of Uganda, the 6- to 12-year-old choir members come from a country that has known more than its share of violence. According to the group's press materials, many of the children in the program have lost one or both parents to disease or political unrest; others have been abandoned.

Choir members are selected from residents in group homes run by the nonprofit Friends of the West, a 20-year-old charitable organization with offices in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. There are two African Children's Choirs on the road. One, comprised of youths from Kenya, is touring on the East Coast; the Ugandan group is performing across the West Coast and has been in and around Orange County since Nov. 29.

Concerts will be Friday at South Coast Community Church in Irvine, Sunday at the Life Church in San Juan Capistrano, Dec. 19 at Disneyland in Anaheim, Jan. 20 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and Jan. 22 in Fullerton's Eastside Christian Church.

Featuring a blend of African music and dance, along with American pop and gospel, the hourlong concerts are free and appropriate for all ages, Schulz said. Audience members may make contributions during a "free-will offering" at intermission. More than 80% of the funds raised through concert donations and the sale of choir recordings goes toward the Friends of the West projects, Schulz said. Since its inception, the group, which is supported by churches of several denominations, has also provided aid to children in Romania, Albania, southern Lebanon, Somalia, the south Sudan and Rwanda.

The first African Children's Choir toured in 1984. Choir members typically tour for about 11 months, adhering to a fairly demanding schedule of schooling and performances.

The youths, who have played more than 1,000 concert dates in churches and halls across the United States, Canada and Europe, have been featured extensively on Christian and network television programs, including "Good Morning America" and Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power." They've also shared concert billing with singer-songwriter Roger Whittaker and "Sesame Street's" Bob McGrath. In 1993, the African Children's Choir was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of best gospel choir.

According to Schulz, the program being performed for audiences on the West Coast is an energetic, visually exciting show.

"The kids start out with a variety of native songs," Schulz said. "There's some African drumming (and) a lot of dance and movement. Then they go into some gospel songs that are very high energy, followed by some popular (American) songs and medleys.

"There are very few things that are as good as people say they are," continued Schulz, "but I think I can honestly say that an African Children's Choir concert is one of the things that actually goes beyond people's expectations." African Children's Choir

ORANGE COUNTY TOUR SCHEDULE

* Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.

South Coast Community Church

5120 Bonita Canyon Road, Irvine

(714) 730-6337.

* Sunday, Dec. 11, at 11 a.m.

The Life Church

27129 Calle Arroyo, San Juan Capistrano

(714) 248-7729

* Dec. 19 (time unavailable)

Disneyland

1313 Harbor Blvd., Anaheim

(714) 999-4000

* Jan. 20, at 7 p.m.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach

(714) 631-2880

* Jan. 22, at 6 p.m.

Eastside Christian Church

2505 E. Yorba Linda Blvd., Fullerton

(714) 871-6844 MORE KID STUFF

IN COSTA MESA: 'LA POSADA MAGICA'

A 14-year-old girl rekindles her holiday spirit during a candlelight posada, the Latin American Christmas procession, in this commissioned play running Friday, Dec. 9, through Dec. 24 at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive. $10 to $22. (714) 957-4033.

IN FULLERTON: 'STELLAR SOLSTICE CELEBRATION'

At this workshop at the Fullerton Museum Center (301 N. Pomona Ave.), kids age 8 to 12 will learn about winter solstice and the ways different cultures mark this astronomic event, while making their own sundial. Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1:30 p.m. $5. (714) 738-6545.

IN ANAHEIM: HOLIDAY NATURE CRAFTS

Children age 6 to 10 can create unique gifts from pine cones, dried flowers and other natural materials in this workshop on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Oak Canyon Nature Center, 6700 E. Walnut Canyon Road. $6.50, reservations suggested. (714) 998-8380.

On Saturday, the public will get its first glimpse of the county's newest regional park, a 475-acre slice of open space with rolling hills, oak-lined canyons and open sky.

The opening of any new parkland is reason for celebration, and this is no exception; there will be a ribbon-cutting, live bluegrass music, food booths, wildlife displays and guided trail tours.

Named for the departing county supervisor, Gen. Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park was dedicated to the county in 1983 by Coto de Caza Ltd., developers of the Coto de Caza planned community. The park is at the eastern end of Oso Parkway.

"The views from the park are fantastic," said Tim Miller, operations manager for the regional park system.

It's open country everywhere, with Saddleback Mountain the main sight to the north and sections of Cleveland National Forest visible to the east.

Among the park's abundant flora is the second-largest oak in the county park system, Miller said. The landscape was altered by years of cattle-grazing but still harbors a variety of wildlife: woodpeckers, raccoons, gray foxes, mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, hawks and owls.

Amenities at the park, which was originally going to be called Wagon Wheel Canyon Regional Park, are minimal and will remain that way, with picnic tables and portable toilets the extent of the improvements.

Saturday's opening starts with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. The fun starts in earnest around 11 and continues to 3 p.m. For those who want to explore, there will be continuous guided tours of the six miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

A bluegrass band will play; food booths will offer hamburgers and other items (with proceeds benefiting local nonprofit groups), and there will be wildlife and environmental displays and prize giveaways.

For the children, there will be a hayride, pony and llama rides and a petting zoo.

"It's a celebration of the ribbon-cutting, but at the same time it's a fun time for everybody," said Tom Martin, vice president of marketing for Coto de Caza Ltd.

Meanwhile, the Rancho Santa Margarita Co. will donate 2,000 acres to be added to O'Neill Regional Park (just east of Mission Viejo) in late January or early February, by the latest reckoning. The gift encompasses the Arroyo Trabuco addition along with Harris Creek and other areas. Together, the new parkland adds 12 miles of multiuse trails. Watch for details.

* What: Park opening.

* When: Saturday, Dec. 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

* Where: Gen. Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park.

* Whereabouts: From the San Diego (5) Freeway, take Oso Parkway east until it ends.

* Wherewithal: FREE. (There is a charge for food).

* Where to call: (714) 728-0235.

We've got frigid waters off Orange County beaches, Rockin' Fig is back from the national amateur championships in Florida, and the big shootout between the Dana Hills and Huntington Beach high school surf teams is now history.

First, let's talk school contest. Dana Hills won, a major blow to Huntington Coach Andy Verdone. The defeat, at Huntington's pier on Nov. 21, stunned Verdone, who praised Dana Hills Coach Junji Nakamura.

"(Nakamura) came down with a well-organized team," Verdone said. "He outcoached me. He's a genius. He came better prepared."

Yo, Figgy, did you hear that? Verdone called another coach a genius! Fig was a member of Huntington's 1974 championship team.

For Verdone to take a step back and say the guy outcoached him, that's pretty heavy . Actually, the defeat comes when Huntington Beach thought it had the team of teams. There were two recent transfers, Justin Harcharic from Seal Beach and Mikey Reilly from Los Alamitos, and HB thought it would have the best team ever. And here they go and are upset.

The victory marks the first time that Dana Hills has beaten Huntington Beach since 1980. In Nakamura's press release (yup, he sent one), he humbly called it "the best high school surf team contest of the CENTURY!"

Verdone said the showdown was the last heat. Huntington needed a sweep but came up short.

"They ended up winning by 5 points. How many points in all? Oh, don't make me look it up. I've been trying to forget this."

Wait until Jan. 24 for the rematch at Salt Creek . Both teams have been demolishing their opponents by 15 to 25 points. Huntington is unbeaten in the Sunset League, and Dana Hills remains undefeated in the South Coast league.

Fig, you think Dana Hills is going to win the national championship this year?

Naw. I'll say this: Dana Hills better watch out. Because from everything I've heard, Huntington still has a pretty killer team, and it's ready for revenge, despite the defeat. Watch HB take 'em at the nationals!

I don't know, Fig. They got a coach named Junji. That should be worth a few points.

Speaking of contests, Fig, how did you do at the U.S. Surfing Federation Amateur Championships? (Fig, a former national title holder, surfed in the senior men's championships two weeks ago at Sebastian Inlet in Florida.)

Uhhh, I got sixth place.

Eeeeek! What happened?

Well, I was in the semifinals late in the day, and the wind was blowing 35 mph. Major whitecaps. I tried to get a few waves, but they just, like, crumbled.

Congratulations, however, are in order for Kim Hamrock, 34, of Huntington Beach, who successfully defended her women's championship. Debbie Bradbury of Huntington Beach won first place in women's bodyboard; Geoff Moysa of San Clemente won the individual paddle race and was a member of the winning paddle-race team.

Switching gears to the world title races: Graham Cassidy, the Assn. of Surfing Professionals' executive director, said pro Lisa Andersen of Florida, who has been the points leader for women all year, will not compete in Hawaii this month.

Cassidy said Andersen suffered a herniated disc in her lower back and will try to salvage a world title at the final contest of the season in Australia early next year.

"This means the women's title race is now back on in earnest," Cassidy said.

Fig's bummed by the news.

She's been tearing it up all year. I know her back went out in Brazil and that she could barely surf down there. Before she got injured and pulled out, it was looking like a U.S. sweep for men's and women's pros with Kelly Slater and Lia.

As for Slater, the men's event is the Pipeline Classic, going on through Friday. Slater won this event last year and has amassed so many contest points this season that if he makes the semifinals, Cassidy said, "it's in the bag."

Tell you the truth, the way Kelly's been surfing this year, he's got no problem. He's more focused. Last year, he had plenty of distractions, like a knee injury, breaking up with his girlfriend, and his starring role in "Baywatch." This year, he's quit the TV program and he's focused. Really a new character.

As for the cold: Water temperatures have been around an icy 55 to 56 degrees. I asked Fig how has he kept warm.

I've been wearing my fur-lined Speedos out there.

*

Best Quote: "Nostalgia is nostalgia. But three fins hold you in." -- state parks ranger Doug (Doheny Doug) Harding, 43, who prefers longboards with three fins rather than one.

*

Protest: The Long Beach/North Orange County Surfrider Foundation chapter is urging friends of the coastline to bring surfboards and join in Saturday at a protest against development of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Meet at Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway from 9 to 11 a.m. The plan is to line the shoulder of the highway with people and surfers holding on to their boards. For more information: (714) 492-8170.

Mary Pickford started out as "America's Sweetheart," then realized the power of her popularity and turned herself into a mogul. Her career, like that of others in Hollywood, could have worn the brand "Only in America."

The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana offers a look at the silent movie star tonight in a program featuring five of her early shorts, all made between 1909 and 1912. The mini-movies, each about 10 minutes, should give an idea of the range of Pickford's screen personality, said Bowers spokesman Brian Langston.

"The films are valuable, we think, as a way to introduce our patrons to (one of the) important people in cinema," he said. "Maybe from there, they'll go on to learn more and see more" of her work.

In "In Old Madrid" (1911), Pickford plays a feisty senorita determined to see her boyfriend despite a guardian's objections. Her character in "Sweet Memories" (also 1911) is an old woman who falls asleep, then dreams of her life from childhood to marriage.

"Lonely Villa" (1909), directed by D.W. Griffith, gives us a Pickford who must be rescued from a forbidding house. Another Griffith-directed short is "Female of the Species" (1912), in which the actress goes out of character to play a villainess who tries to persuade her sister to commit murder. In "Her First Biscuit," a 1909 comedy, Pickford tries, badly, to make biscuits.

Pickford's film persona, which in major releases wavered little from picture to picture, clearly reflected the attitudes of the day -- Pickford was mostly purity and bliss, a make-believe darling for an emerging industry banking on the appeal of make-believe. She tended to be innocent on screen but a sharpie with good business sense off it.

Besides helping launch film through her box-office appeal, she had impact on a handful of important directors -- including Griffith -- early in their careers. She helped Mack Sennett on his way to comedy and first brought Ernst Lubitsch over from Europe.

Most important, she established United Artists in 1919 with fellow heavyweights Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Griffith.

Pickford, born in Toronto in 1892, was a stage actress before moving to film, eventually becoming one of Griffith's regulars.

Wanting more control of her projects, Pickford decided to out-studio the studios. She started in 1916 by forming the Mary Pickford Film corporation, which led to her becoming independent, unburdened by contracts, in 1918.

The next year, she joined with Fairbanks (whom she married in 1920), Chaplin and Griffith, who were also sick of the dictatorial studio system, to form their own. United Artists immediately became a major player.

Bowers sticks with history but moves away from Hollywood for its final screening of the year. On Dec. 15 it will present a series of newsreels from the '20s, documenting several events, including the play of the New York Giants, the speeches of Mussolini and the discovery of Pompeii.

* What: Mary Pickford program, including five shorts.

* When: Tonight, Dec. 8, at 7:30.

* Where: The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

* Whereabouts: Take the Santa Ana (5) Freeway to 17th Street and head west to Main Street, then head north.

* Wherewithal: Included with museum admission of $4.50 for adults, $3 for seniors and $1.50 for ages 12 and under.

* Where to call: (714) 567-3600. MORE SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Home for Christmas

(NR) Mickey Rooney stars in this 1990 film about an elderly homeless man who enters a rich family's life to reveal a mystery that changes their Christmas. The film, directed by Peter McCubbins, screens Friday, Dec. 9, at 12:45 p.m. at the Cypress Senior Center, 9031 Grindlay St., Cypress. FREE. (714) 229-6776.

Little Women

(NR) June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O'Brien and Peter Lawford star in this 1949 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's tale of young women coming of age. The film, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, screens Wednesday, Dec. 14, and Dec. 16, at 12:45 p.m. at the Cypress Senior Center. FREE.

In "The Pagemaster," a nerdy hypochondriac (Macaulay Culkin) learns courage with the help of literature after he seeks refuge in a deserted library and embarks on fantastic adventures in the worlds of horror, adventure and fantasy. (Rated PG)

*

Because this widely hyped movie is one your mother clearly would want you to see, its aura is uncool.

Nevertheless, most kids gave it a solid B. Even older sophisticates who expected to find a red-lipped Macaulay Culkin kiddie flick were surprised by the acceptable action and fun.

"I thought it was going to be stupid," said Ethan Phearson, 10. "There wasn't a lot of action and adventure in the commercials."

But Ethan laughed at Culkin's Richie Tyler, a statistic-spouting boy who's afraid of the dark and mercury levels in tuna. Ethan also liked Richie's adventures, which begin when he slips in the library, is knocked unconscious and enters a dream world he can escape only by passing three tests of courage.

From there, Culkin vanishes and the movie shifts into a cartoon in which the plot and the action suspiciously resemble a future video or computer game.

In order to reach the library's exit, Richie must pass through three dangerous realms without losing his library card. Along the way, he meets and is helped by book friends: Adventure, a one-eyed, one-legged, one-handed swashbuckler; Horror, a frightened, plastic-faced goblin; and Fantasy, a lavender fairy godmother. When the going gets tough, a deep, mysterious voice advises Richie to "seize the courage" or "look to the books."

The movie's apparent message -- that books are exciting and can actually help you -- was lost on some kids.

"If there was a message, I don't know what it is," Ethan said.

That's completely understandable. Who can appreciate the imagination in books when it's competing simultaneously with the imaginative animation of, say, a ceiling mural dissolving into a tidal wave of paint splashing through the library stacks? Or electric dancing fairies, or magic carpets, or a fire-breathing dragon?

If the message was lost in the medium, at least it was better than most Saturday morning cartoons.

"It was cool," concluded Danan Coleman, 11, who came with his sister Kendra, 9, and brother Clint, 6. Their mother picked the show for them, they said, but none was disappointed. They agreed that the film's highlight was the animated book characters, particularly Horror, whose frightful distortions and whining, provided by the voice of Frank Welker, offered some laughs. "Star Trek's" Patrick Stewart played Adventure, and Whoopi Goldberg put her stamp on Fantasy. (She hails Mother Goose with "Hey, girl!" as she flies past in the fantasy realm.)

Culkin, now 14, still looks about 8 and continues to brandish his trademark "Yesss!" Though Culkin was off-screen for most of the movie, Kendra thought he still has what it takes.

"He's great," she said. "I really like him. He was actually cool."

The kids said filmmakers don't really have to sell them on books. For the most part, they said they prefer them to TV, CD-ROM, computer games and movies anyway.

"There's only one game I like on the computer," Kendra said. "It's called Reading Blaster. You read on the computer."

04,35,17,16,10 Movie (National ranking) Weekend Gross Screens/Avg. Weeks (Studio) (National) (National) Released 1. The Santa Clause (1) $107,502 15/$7,166 4 (Buena Vista) ($11.3 million) (2,333/$4,882) 2. Junior (3) $90,061 21/$4,288 2 (Universal) ($5.15 million) (1,749/$2,945) 3. Interview With the Vampire (4) $59,004 21/$2,809 4 (Warner Brothers) ($5.11 million) (2,086/$2,454) 4. Star Trek: Generations (2) $54,379 14/$3,884 3 (Paramount) ($5.83 million) (2,681/$2,177) 5. Trapped in Paradise (7) $37,725 9/$4,191 1 (Fox) ($2.74 million) (1,286/$2,134) Estimated from data supplied, as of press time, by Exibitor Relations Co.

Out with the old year, in with the new restaurants.

The yellow cottage suggests both Brittany and upstate Maine, but the cuisine at Aubergine, which opened Monday, is "modern French." Newlywed owners Liza and Tim Goodell come via Newport Beach's Four Seasons Hotel and Pascal, respectively; a third chef, Florent Marneau of Fontainebleau, also came from Pascal.

The menu at Aubergine changes daily. Entrees start at $9.50; tart tatin of pintade (guinea hen on puffed pastry) with braised turnips and sherry vinegar sauce, and sauteed veal sweetbreads with baby leeks and balsamic vinaigrette, are both $14. Desserts, $6, include a brown butter and vanilla bean blancmange with roasted figs and port essence.

Open Monday through Saturday for dinner from 5:30 to 10 p.m.

The Viking Cafe serves traditional Scandinavian dishes, desserts and coffees. Custard-filled cakes, kringles and other Danish pastries are baked daily in-house; open-face sandwiches include gravad lax (pickled salmon, $3.50). One wall features a mural dedicated to 8th-Century Vikings; another is dedicated to works of local artists.

Viking Cafe is open Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Also in Irvine, La Salsa recently launched its 43rd location nationwide, the fourth in Orange County. As part of the restaurant's grand opening fiesta, mariachi bands and 99-cent chicken tacos will be featured Tuesday through Dec. 17.

La Salsa in Irvine is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Aubergine, 508 29th St., Newport Beach. (714) 723-4150.

La Salsa, Crossroads Center, 3850 Barranca Parkway, Irvine. (714) 786-7692.

Viking Cafe, 5325 University Drive, Irvine. (714) 262-0404.

*

Those wondering which bubbly to give this season were able to do a bit of comparison shopping at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa on Sunday; tasters at the two-part "Champagne and Sparkling Extravaganza" voted with both their pens and pocketbooks. Event organizer Michael Nguyen and guest speaker Peter Koff said the Bollinger 1982 R.D. ($99) edged Krug 1985 for the top spot among luxury cuvees including Dom Perignon; the public preferred Roederer 1988 Cristal ($100). Among more affordable gift wines, Nguyen said, the public liked Mumm 1990 "DVX" Napa ($19).

Royal Khyber in Newport Beach now offers complete meals for takeout. A quarter tandoori chicken is $2.95 (half $4.25, whole $6.75), and that includes naan bread, sauteed onions and yogurt salad; for $1.50 more you can also have spinach, dal (lentils), eggplant or rice pilaf. Owner Arun Puri said it was his daughter's idea; Shalini Puri is a marketing major at USC, and the restaurant was her term project. She got an A on her paper.

Sundays and Mondays from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m., Carmelo's Ristorante in Corona del Mar offers samplings from its menu, gratis. Entertainment begins nightly at 8:30, and the restaurant figures you might want to order a glass of wine, but you don't have to order anything to try such dishes as prosciutto pizza or rigatoni ai quattro fromaggi -- and no matter how you slice it, that's four cheeses at no charge.

Stand on this high bluff and take a deep breath of the crisp, clean air. If you squint, you can see the ocean in the far distance. You can also see why Laguna Niguel accounts for some of Orange County's most expensive real estate. Perhaps this powerful setting is what persuaded restaurateur Hans Prager to open a second Yankee Tavern here.

Unlike his original Yankee Tavern, Prager's new venture can't offer a view of the slips of Newport Harbor just beyond its windows (and you have to walk outside the restaurant to get that bluff-top view) or attract so many deeply tanned members of the boat crowd. Nevertheless, the place has been a rip-roaring success so far. There's a wait every night during peak hours, and the bar buzzes with an attractive clientele.

The new restaurant is more handsome than the prototype. The vaulted ceiling sports bulbous chandeliers that spread an amber, lighthouse-type glow; the comfortable wooden captain's chairs have thick cushions to sink into.

Recall the basic Yankee Tavern theme: a dry-docked clipper with a larder full of dishes popular from Eastport to Block Island. This hearty sort of food is probably most enjoyable during the holiday season. Despite the Yankee elements, it has a lot in common with the hearty Continental cooking Prager built his reputation on at the Ritz.

Hip it is not, as you quickly notice. A featured cold appetizer is Blue Point oysters on the half shell. They're fine and plump, and if you insist on being a Yankee all the way down the line, you'll be happy to note that they come from the East Coast. But we have better, fresher and more varied oysters out here -- delicious Quilicene or Skookum oysters from the Northwest, for instance.

I'm also disappointed with the farmed Eastern mussels, though they are definitely a step up from those insipid New Zealand green-lip mussels we so often see. Yankee Tavern serves them in a delicious shallot, garlic and cream broth, reminiscent of moules mariniere .

Soups are a high spot. The Maine lobster bisque is delightful, a coral-colored bowl of rich lobster flavor with little pieces of white corn, like buried treasure, stuck at the bottom. Sometimes there is a thick lentil soup with a smoky taste from little bits of ham hock. The chowders, in the California manner, are more floury than they would be in New England, but satisfying.

The best of the salads might be Boston bibb lettuce with bay shrimp, chives, watercress and chopped egg. The greens are tender, and the concept works. The traditional Caesar is good too, thanks to a light, subtle Caesar dressing, tasty sourdough croutons and the right amount of grated Parmesan.

But avoid the beefsteak tomato and sweet onion, accompanied by cruets of wine vinegar and olive oil. What you get are slices of bionic, flavorless tomato alternating with undistinguished red onion. Sure, it's hard to get good tomatoes this time of year. So why is this dish on the menu at all?

Christmas decorations are up at the moment in here, and they herald the best entree, roast Christmas goose. Richer, denser and gamier than duck, this goose has a crackling skin and comes on a large plate with red cabbage, stewed apples and good mixed vegetables. It's reason enough to visit the restaurant.

Other good entrees include a home-style Yankee pot roast with brown gravy; Angus porterhouse steak, 20 ounces' worth; and thin-sliced calf's liver with crisp onion straws and smoky bacon. The menu's Diestel Farm turkey is some of the most tender and flavorful turkey I have ever tasted. It comes with a crunchy, interesting pecan dressing.

Naturally, the menu abounds with seafoods. The Nantucket platter is like the fisherman's plates you get on Cape Cod, though fancied up with the addition of a crab cake. It's mostly fried shrimp, scallops and halibut, plus the de rigueur tangy coleslaw and skinny French fries.

Whitefish is sauteed with mushrooms and capers here, making for a dish that seems rather French for a Yankee menu. Better is the beer-batter fish and chips, made with flaky Canadian halibut -- a little heavy on the batter but definitely good to eat.

Desserts are quite substantial, if not quite up to Yankee standards. The deep-dish blueberry cobbler, for instance, is not a cobbler at all but, rather, a single-crusted pie, topped with a scoop of Haagen-Dazs vanilla. There's a chocolate bread pudding with Jack Daniels sauce (from a state where the word Yankee is less than a compliment, I should think) and a fine raspberry creme brulee our forefathers doubtless never heard of.

Yankee Tavern is moderate to expensive. Appetizers are $2.50 to $8. Main course salads and sandwiches are $7.95 to $10.95. Entrees are $10.50 to $19. Desserts are $4.

* YANKEE TAVERN

* 32441 Street of the Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel.

* (714) 240-4994.

* Dinner daily, 4 to 11 p.m.

* All major credit cards.

Outside, as I write this, is a beautiful Indian summer day, warm and breezeless beneath a pale, unfettered sky. Inside my heart there are more than the usual amounts of pain and anger.

There is no way to reconcile the afternoon's loveliness with a soul's distress other than the obvious, which is to remember that the weather has as little influence on our moods as our moods have on the weather. But this is smug and fatuous and unhelpful.

What gives?

Men and women in general, and that contested rope between them -- love. I look around and think about my friends and family, and I can't help but notice a lot of disappointment that was once hope, a lot of confusion that was once clarity, a lot of sand slipping through fingers that once seemed to hold only gold.

For one thing, I have a friend whose wife left him after 20 years of marriage. They have three fine children, a warm and spacious home in San Juan Capistrano, jobs that have been rewarding. They still have those things, I suppose, but he lives alone now, surrounded by birds in a rental not far from his former home. His birds -- rare, exotic, expensive, hard-to-care-for and noisy -- have been a love of his life. Sometimes when I talk to him on the phone, he has to go into the bathroom to be heard above their chatter.

What happened?

That's a complicated question for which I have gathered only dull and partial answers from others who know her: She was unfulfilled; she was not autonomous; she was suffering a midlife crisis. She was not happy.

Mystified, hurt, angry, proud and shamed, her husband sits on bar stools next to me, and we joke about finding his next wife. But he doesn't want a next wife, he wants her, and after a drink or four he's the first to admit it. Some women I know are after him, but he's the most married single guy they'll ever chase. He is not happy.

I have another friend who was married once, briefly, but it ended. He's an idealistic type -- hard to please and critical, but forgiving and often generous. Fortyish now, he lives alone in a house that is too large for just him.

For the past couple of years he was seeing an intelligent, pretty, practical woman, and they usually seemed pleased to be together. They were proud of each other in an unoffensive way, affectionate and attentive. Sometimes when I'd see them, her young son would be with them, and my friend would look a little awkward, not sure how to act. He had told me more than once that he feared he wouldn't be able to find the courage -- or love -- that would allow him to stepfather this little boy and be happy himself.

My friend announced a couple of weeks ago that he and this woman had called it quits.

The reason?

He was still unsure that he could get used to someone else's son living under his roof -- that spacious, too big roof! But the time had come to make a decision one way or the other. Funny, but he told me he feels ready for the familiar chaos of a household not devoted exclusively to himself.

I have another friend whose husband of 14 years fell in love with someone else. He left the state and is reputed to be remarried and quite happy. She is not.

Yet another friend is still in love with a guy who broke her heart a decade ago and wonders if they might be good together again. He wonders too. I know both of them well enough to understand that more than anything else, they are terrified of what might happen if they try, and terrified of what might happen if they don't.

When I'm in the room with the two of them, I can sense a flexible present trying to accommodate a specific past in the name of a hypothetical future. They are too scared for happiness to be even in their vocabulary just yet, and, yes, I'm terrified for them too.

What gives?

At times like this, I'm convinced the founding fathers considered "the pursuit of happiness" an "inalienable right" because it is such a fragile thing -- as hard to find and keep as life and liberty itself. At times like this, I'm convinced that happiness is alien, caused only by an occasional convergence of uncontrollable forces.

And if you subscribe to that notion, it follows that anyone who expects a relationship (not to mention a life) to produce a high degree of happiness is being tragically optimistic.

Therefore, at times like this, I want to tell all my aching friends that life is geared to misery, toil and heartbreak, so stop heaping more of those things onto your loved ones just because you don't feel happy.

Right now, with optically pure sky overhead and the warmth of a late autumn sun on my arms, I am convinced that life is vain bitterness and grand delusion. I'm convinced that we live short and die long. That life mocks hope.

But, to be truthful, I'm only good for about one day of this, then I start to crack. If I'm just another hungry child bawling for my happiness, then so be it.

So while I brood under these perfect skies I keep one eye trained on tomorrow, or a day soon, when the storm winds will howl in off the ocean and the sky will be black as midnight at noon and the rain heaving down will be cold and sharp as ice picks and somehow the world will seem a happier place.

I noticed just a moment ago that a breeze has come up, and the evening is already turning cool.

You know that headline type used for earthquakes, riots and floods?

Well, break it out today because the Clippers finally won their first game of the season after losing their first 16.

One loss away from tying the NBA record for the worst start set when the expansion Miami Heat lost its first 17 games in 1988, the Clippers finally found a team they could beat, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-94, in overtime Wednesday night before an announced 6,443 at the Sports Arena.

Guard Pooh Richardson made a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key as time ran out to give the Clippers their first victory and trigger a wild celebration.

"It was the sweetest shot I ever saw," forward Loy Vaught said. "It's a very good feeling. That futility record we almost set is something we didn't want to have our names attached to."

With "I Love L.A." playing over the loudspeakers, fans and players flooded the court and mobbed Richardson, who had nine points and 13 assists.

With the score tied at 94-94 after Marty Conlon made a layup, the Clippers called a timeout to set up a play. Richardson passed it to Eric Piatkowski, who was stripped of the ball by Eric Murdock. However, rookie forward Lamond Murray, who had 19 points in his first NBA start, came up with the ball in a wild scramble and fed Richardson for the game-winning shot.

Vaught, who promised to buy the team a bottle of Dom Perignon when it got its first victory, had a career-high 30 points and 14 rebounds as the Clippers ended a 20-game losing streak dating back to last season.

"We kept the fans on the edge of their seats, but nothing comes easy here," Vaught said. "Every single guy had a hand in this win. It was like 12 guys against the world. We had a lot of critics. A lot of people wanted us to set the record."

With the Clippers trailing, 92-88, after Vin Baker scored the first four points in the five-minute overtime period, Vaught hit a jumper to trigger a 6-0 spurt.

Murray, who had never won an NBA game, made a three-point shot to give the Clippers a 93-92 lead with 1:31 remaining. Murray added a free throw with 45.6 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a two-point lead.

The Bucks called time out to set up a play, but Clipper reserve forward Charles Outlaw blocked a layup by forward Glenn Robinson with 26 seconds remaining.

After another timeout, Robinson faked a shot and passed to Conlon, who made a layup with 22.5 seconds left to tie it at 94-94. Conlon, who was fouled by Murray, missed the free throw

With the Clippers leading, 88-85, in regulation, Robinson, who had 22 points, made a three-point shot from the top of the key to tie it at 88-88 with 22.1 seconds remaining.

The Clippers had a chance to win it in regulation, but Richardson missed a jumper with one second left.

Leading, 66-65, the Clippers went on a 15-7 run to take an 81-72 lead on Richardson's jumper with 6:33 remaining.

But the Bucks outscored the Clippers, 12-6, to cut it to 87-84 when Jon Barry, who had 10 fourth-quarter points, made two free throws with 2:11 remaining.

The Bucks had two chances to take the lead after Vaught missed a jumper on the ensuing possession, but Barry missed a jumper and Murdock missed a follow shot with 1:28 remaining.

Piatkowski made the second of two free throws with one minute left to give the Clippers a four-point lead. However, Vin Baker made one free throw with 58.1 seconds left for 88-85.

The Clippers ran the clock down to 34 seconds before Murray missed a three-pointer that resulted in a 24-second violation because it didn't hit the rim.

Coach Mike Dunleavy used a timeout to diagram a play. There was little doubt that the Bucks would try to work the ball to Robinson, the first player selected in the NBA draft. Robinson missed a jumper, but got his own rebound and made the tying three-pointer.

Clipper forward Harold Ellis changed his pregame routine in hopes that it would help change the Clippers' luck.

"I listened to different music coming over," Ellis said. "I always listen to Oletta Adams, but tonight I changed it up and I listened to Sting on the way over here."

Coach Bill Fitch changed his starting lineup, inserting Murray in place of center Matt Fish. Murray had 11 points and three rebounds as the Clippers took a 52-49 halftime lead.

Clipper guard Terry Dehere sat out the final quarter after spraining his right ankle in the third quarter.

Rick Neuheisel, Colorado's new football coach, has a law degree. His father, Dick, and his sister, Katie, are partners in a law firm.

"If Rick had gone into practice with his dad, it would have been Neuheisel and Neuheisel," Rick's mother, Jane, told Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post.

"Now that Katie is his partner, that would have made it Neuheisel, Neuheisel and Neuheisel. . . . I don't know about that."

*

Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I record for most free throws made in a game?

*

Aloha to this game: David Casstevens of the Arizona Republic on the Dec. 25 Aloha Bowl: "Just once it would be nice to have no sports on Christmas Day. ESPN will urge Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus by cheering on those two old Hawaiian favorites, Kansas State and Boston College."

*

Come again? Heavyweight champion George Foreman during the Riddick Bowe-Larry Donald bout:

"Donald needs to take five steps backward in whatever direction. Bowe acted like Donald's jabs didn't hurt, and it doesn't, but it takes its toll."

*

Beer run: The postponement of Tuesday night's NBA game between the Phoenix Suns and Washington Bullets because of moisture on the court at the USAir Arena at Landover, Md., didn't bother Charles Barkley.

"I'm going out in New York City. I have better things to do," the Sun star said. "They should have postponed this thing a half-hour sooner -- I'd have a six-pack in my system by now."

*

Alternative: John Hillyer in the San Francisco Examiner: "Unhappiness over playing time has Seattle's Kendall Gill demanding to be traded. Suppose he'd be happier as a Clipper?"

*

Not so fast: Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald writing before the Dolphins played the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night:

"This time they (the Dolphins) are for real, past the point of folding. This is a different team with better skills and more heart."

Yawn. Buffalo won, 42-31.

*

Greg who? Greg Sutton, a reserve guard for the Charlotte Hornets, appraising his skills: "I've got a great all-around game. Offensively, I'm great. Defensively, I'm great. I don't think I have any lows in any part of my game."

*

Bland: Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the struggling Eagles:

"You'd like some fizz, some carbonation, some tang. Something to tickle your nose. Something to induce a burp, a hiccup, a gasp. . . . something .

"But these Eagles, instead, are tap water."

*

Looking back: On this day in 1940, the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins, 73-0, to win the NFL championship.

*

Trivia answer: Pete Maravich of Louisiana State with 30 in 31 attempts against Oregon State on Dec. 22, 1969.

*

Quotebook: San Antonio Spur guard Avery Johnson, after a loss to Seattle at the Alamodome: "It's frustrating losing at home. It's like bad gumbo. I hate it." MAL FLORENCE

Lu Bin became the latest and most prominent name among China's record-setting female swimmers to be suspended for drug use. Lu, who won three gold medals at the World Championships and four at the Asian Games, was banned for two years Wednesday for using performance-enhancing substances.

The international swimming federation FINA said Lu tested positive for dehydrotestosterone in a random out-of-competition sampling on Sept. 30. Yang Aihua, the world 400-meter freestyle champion, tested positive for testosterone and was recently suspended for two years. Both will miss the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Jurisprudence

Reggie Baul, a receiver on the Nebraska football team, was ordered to pay $124 in fines and court costs in Lincoln after pleading no contest to theft.

An Italian sports apparel firm is suing Monica Seles, saying she reneged on a contract to promote a line of clothing after she was stabbed by a fan last year. FILA said that while Seles remained out of tennis, it has lost more than $6 million from the deal signed when she was the No. 1-ranked female tennis player.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, testified in a Lausanne, Switzerland, court that two British journalists libeled him by misrepresenting his past in Franco's Spain and his leadership of the Olympic movement.

Fresno State fullback Chris Burk was ordered to stand trial on a charge of biting off part of a man's lip. . . . Tom McCarthy, who played for the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins in the 1980s, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute marijuana. Miscellany

A meeting with Tyrone Willingham, who coaches running backs for the Minnesota Vikings, apparently closed Stanford's interviews with three finalists for head coach, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The others are Ron Turner, offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, and Stanford assistant head coach Terry Shea. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals traded second baseman Luis Alicea to the Boston Red Sox for two prospects.

Magnus Larsson upset Swedish Davis Cup teammate Stefan Edberg, 6-4, 6-7 (9-7), 8-6, in the opening round of the Grand Slam Cup at Munich, Germany. . . . American Bonnie Blair won the 500 meters and was second in the 1,000 at a World Cup speedskating meet in Obihiro, Japan.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has rejected Colorado University President Judith Albino's contention that race was not a consideration in choosing a white head football coach (Rick Neuheisel) over a black assistant (Bob Simmons). . . . Jean-Claude Tremblay, a star defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1960s, died in Montreal after a long battle with kidney cancer. He was 55.

University of Idaho President Elisabeth Zinser says the school will not join the Big West Conference in 1996 because the football team did not draw well enough this season to make the jump to the NCAA's Division I-A. . . . Clemson's I.M. Ibrahim, whose soccer teams won two national titles, resigned after 28 seasons. . . . A major winter storm deflated the roof of the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls, Iowa, sending University of Northern Iowa officials scrambling to find sites for the basketball team's home games. . . . The U.S. soccer team will play Trinidad and Tobago on Friday and Honduras on Sunday at Cal State Fullerton.

Jerod Haase scored 22 points, Greg Ostertag tied a school record with eight blocked shots and fourth-ranked Kansas trailed only once Wednesday night in defeating sixth-ranked Florida, 69-63, at Lawrence, Kan.

The Jayhawks (4-0), who beat then-No. 1 Massachusetts, 81-75, on Saturday at Anaheim, led the Gators at halftime, 29-25, and quickly ran up a 36-25 advantage after Sean Pearson made a three-point shot, Haase scored on a driving layup and Jacque Vaughn made a 10-foot jumper.

Florida (3-1) never got closer than five after that.

No. 5 Massachusetts 85, Pittsburgh 57 -- Lou Roe and Mike Williams scored 13 points each as the Minutemen (2-1) used all 15 players and got points from 12 in rolling over the Panthers (1-3) at Amherst, Mass.

No. 7 Kentucky 73, Indiana 70 -- Walter McCarty made a three-point shot with 1:37 to play at Louisville, Ky., to help the Wildcats (3-1) hold off the Hoosiers, who never recovered from a delay-of-game technical foul with 4:02 remaining.

Neil Reed's layup gave Indiana (2-4) a 64-62 lead, but he was called for the technical when he swatted the ball out of bounds.

Anthony Epps made the two free throws off the technical to tie the score. McCarty was fouled by Alan Henderson 10 seconds later and made both free throws to give Kentucky (3-1) a 66-64 lead. The score was tied only once more.

No. 18 Georgetown 76, Providence 74 -- Jerome Williams' rebound layup with 41 seconds to play gave the Hoyas their only lead of the night as Georgetown (3-1) rallied from a 14-point deficit against the Friars (4-1) at Landover, Md.

Freshman Allen Iverson, who scored 30 points, made a 15-foot jumper with 1:20 remaining to pull Georgetown within 74-73, then stripped the ball from guard Jason Murdock 30 seconds later. Iverson missed a jumper that would have given the Hoyas the lead, but Williams got the rebound and scored.

Iverson, who had 21 points in the second half, made one of two free throws with 21 seconds left.

No. 21 Ohio 87, Ohio Dominican 57 -- Ed Sears scored 22 points to lead the Bobcats (6-2) over the Panthers (4-5) at Athens, Ohio.

Battling foul problems and a 10-point deficit at one point in the first half, Loyola Marymount rallied with the help of a freshman forward to defeat San Diego State, 75-67, Wednesday night before 924 in the campus gymnasium.

"We had to get back to defending, rebounding and taking care of the ball," Loyola Coach John Olive said."Once we did that, we were OK."

Loyola improved to 4-1 going into a 10-day break for final exams. San Diego State (3-1) was unbeaten but untested, with victories over Southern California College, Cal Poly Pomona and Sacramento State.

Loyola won despite the considerable foul problems of starting forwards Wyking Jones and Mike O'Quinn. Jones still managed to lead the Lions in scoring with 15 points on seven-for-seven shooting from the field and O'Quinn had 14. "Our bench was critical tonight," Olive said. "We got very valuable minutes from our bench."

Ben Ammerman, a freshman forward from Sacramento, was particularly important at a stage of the first half when San Diego State was threatening to blow the game open. The Aztecs, controlling the offensive boards, led by 10 and Jones was on the bench in foul trouble. Ammerman's five defensive rebounds, however, keyed Loyola's rally to a 35-35 tie at the half.

O'Quinn provided the offensive spark to ease the Lions into a lead in the second half, scoring eight points in the first 9 1/2 minutes as Loyola moved to a 58-54 lead.

Loyola would have been more comfortable with its lead, except that both Jones and O'Quinn were forced to the bench with four fouls. But Ammerman made a driving basket that gave Loyola its first double-figure lead at 65-54.

Chapman men's basketball Coach Mike Bokosky has always believed Adam Dzierzynski would be a terrific point guard.

Last week, Dzierzynski, a sophomore from Santa Margarita High, started to prove Bokosky's point. Dzierzynski averaged 19 points and eight assists in leading the Panthers to the Redlands tournament title.

"This tournament has given him an unbelievable amount of confidence," Bokosky said.

Last season, Dzierzynski split time with senior Brian Wood at the point, but this year it's his show. He had 24 points and eight assists in Chapman's 85-78 victory over Redlands in the title game and was named most valuable player. Dzierzynski made 20 of 32 shots from the field (62.5%) in the tournament.

*

After losing its first game of the season to Claremont-Mudd, the Panthers (4-2) have bounced back. They beat Claremont in the first round of the tournament, 90-78, then beat Menlo, 82-69, before taking care of Redlands. Each of those teams are expected to be among the top NCAA Division III teams in the West Region.

"I think if we continue to play well, we'll be one of the top teams in the West," Bokosky said.

Stefan Mumaw, an all-tournament selection, averaged 18.6 points in the three games.

*

The Concordia women's basketball team seems to be making rapid progress under first-year Coach Dave Wolter. The Eagles are 3-4, but they made a surprising run in the Golden State Athletic Conference preseason tournament last week in Fresno.

The Eagles won two games to advance to the final, where they lost, 81-66, to Northwest (Idaho) Nazarene, ranked No. 21 in the preseason NAIA Division II poll.

Wolter said the team is improving with each game. In a 106-67 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Eagles forced more turnovers than they committed.

"There has been something very positive to take away from every game we've played," Wolter said.

Concordia has achieved much of this on the road. In a 10-day span starting Thanksgiving Day, the Eagles spent only about 40 hours at home, traveling for tournaments at Humboldt State and Fresno Pacific.

"The NBA guys get a better road trip than that," Wolter said.

*

Record-breaker: Pacific Christian's Charles Ross broke the school's career scoring record Monday in a 108-38 victory over California Christian.

The game at Cal State Fullerton was stopped when Ross broke Brian Keiser's mark of 2,655 with about eight minutes left in the first half. Ross was presented the ball and a certificate.

Keiser set the record in four seasons from 1986-90; Ross, a 6-foot-3 senior, has played 2 1/4 seasons.

Ross is averaging 29 points this season and has 2,662 in his career. He should also soon break Burton Lalk's school rebounding record. Ross, who averages 13 rebounds, has 1,383, 43 short of Lalk's mark.

Ross has continued to excel despite starting the season with a sprained ankle. Doctors suggested he sit out the first two games because of the injury. Ross ignored the advice.

"He hasn't been able to push off it and he's had to have more rest than usual," said PCC Coach Lee Erickson. "We don't want to kill him off because we want him at the end of the year."

Ross was named athlete of the week in the National Christian College Athletic Assn. after scoring 32 points in a 106-97 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills last week. Pacific Christian (7-5) is the top-ranked team in the NCCAA Division II.

The Royals are scheduled to play No. 7 American Indian College today in Phoenix.

*

Genevie Wright, a 5-10 middle blocker from Southern California College, earned second-team NAIA volleyball All-American honors. Wright, a senior from Diamond Bar, led SCC to the semifinals of the NAIA Far West Regionals.

Easing into things wasn't Nicole Erickson's style in high school -- and nothing has changed.

Less than a month into her freshman year, Erickson is starting at point guard for nationally ranked Purdue, putting her name in the Boilermakers' record book and creating fan excitement in West Lafayette, Ind. Yeah, pretty much the stuff she has always done.

"It's been great," said Erickson, one of the best female basketball players in county history while at Brea-Olinda.

"Every game is a big game. We've already played Stanford, Vanderbilt, Tennessee. It's been incredible; so much fun."

Having fun isn't too difficult when you're exceedingly talented. She has started the last three games and is averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and two assists for Purdue (3-3), ranked No. 11 in the USA Today/CNN Poll. Solid numbers for someone adjusting to life in the Big Ten Conference.

"I think it's an adjustment any time you go from the high school level to the college level," she said. "You have to prepare yourself mentally for every game.

"You're playing against people who are as talented as you and who know the game as well as you do."

Erickson, 5 feet 6, dazzled the crowd while starting for the first time in the Boilermaker Classic last Saturday against Florida A&M. She scored 18 points, and had five rebounds and five steals in Purdue's 97-37 victory. She also tied the school record for three-pointers in a game by making six of nine.

"I was a little bit nervous, but not really," Erickson said. "It wasn't that much different than coming off the bench. You still have to do the same things and not mess up."

At Brea, the bench was something Erickson only visited to catch her breath in between terrorizing opponents. A starter since the first game of her freshman year, Erickson led the Ladycats to a record of 130-5 -- a 96% winning percentage.

Brea won its fourth consecutive State championship last season as Erickson averaged 15.7 points and 8.1 assists. She also received The Times Orange County Edition player of the year award for the second consecutive season.

And although Erickson's transition has been especially smooth, she believes her development is far from complete.

"I have some habits I have to change," she said. "I was used to doing things a certain way at Brea for all those years, and I can't do that stuff now."

*

Kristin Spataro and Ayesha Attoh led Princeton (26-5) to the Ivy League women's volleyball championship.

Spataro, a 5-6 junior setter from Corona del Mar, was named most valuable player of the Ivy League tournament, won by Princeton in mid-November. Attoh, a 5-8 outside hitter from University, was the Ivy League's freshman of the year. Both were selected All-Ivy League.

*

Heather Dillard finished her Alabama Birmingham volleyball career with another strong season.

Dillard (5-9), a Cypress graduate, led the Great Midwest Conference in assists for the second consecutive season.

Dillard, an all-conference setter, averaged 12.3 assists. She averaged 10.8 last season.

The Blazers were 8-24 and tied for fourth in conference at 4-8.

After two embarrassing losses to top 10 teams, Ocean View canned its offense and defense and went back to the basics this week.

The Seahawks, expected by many to be a top 10 team before the girls' basketball season is over, now has won two in a row, including Wednesday's 55-38 victory over Troy to advance to the semifinals of the Brea-Olinda Ladycat Classic.

Troy (4-1), ranked 10th in The Times' preseason county poll, wasn't caught off guard. Before the game, Coach Brad Sand said he expected Ocean View (2-2) to find its way into the county's elite by the end of the season. Afterward, he had not changed his opinion.

"We need to play teams like this," Sand said. "Someone puts you in a paper top 10, you still have to go out and play and prove it. I just want to see good basketball; if we play good basketball and lose, then that means we lost to a good team."

But Troy didn't play well. Seven first-quarter turnovers led to only seven shots -- and the Warriors made only one -- as they fell behind, 15-4.

The Warriors began to solve Ocean View in the second quarter, lobbing the ball over coverage to 6-foot-3 Jennie Gadd, who helped to pull them within five. But midway through the quarter, Gadd twisted an ankle and Troy's dependence on the senior was evident: Ocean View outscored the Warriors, 10-2, and took a 31-16 halftime lead. Troy never got closer than 13.

"We were embarrassed our first two games, against Edison (51-27) and Mater Dei (76-32), and that was my fault," Ocean View Coach Ollie Martin said. "We tried to play the same style as last year when we had three seniors and could do some sophisticated stuff. This year, that didn't work. We had to go to a real basic, up-tempo style.

"We didn't even practice it -- I just drew things up before (beating Pasadena in the first round on Monday)."

Junior Becky Fraser led Ocean View with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jennifer Tuiolosega had 12 points.

Gadd returned in the third quarter for Troy, but Ocean View kept her from becoming a factor; she finished five of seven from the field and had 14 points.

"I think this game will give us some momentum," Martin said. "Troy's a good team, and Torrance Bishop Montgomery's going to be tough (in the semifinals), but it's important for us to get into this style of play; the girls will get better and better.

"We figure we'll be a top-10 team eventually." MARTIN HENDERSON

Schea Cotton was the difference in Mater Dei's 56-39 nonleague victory over Los Alamitos Wednesday night at UC Irvine.

Cotton, who missed the Monarchs' season-opener Monday because of a rash, returned to the starting lineup a week earlier than expected and scored a team-high 20 points.

"I felt I needed to get him in shape as soon as possible," Coach Gary McKnight said. "He practiced yesterday. He's got to wear a T-shirt under his uniform because (the rash) is irritating."

The sophomore shot six of 11 from the field, and turned the ball over five times, including three times in the first quarter. Cotton grabbed four rebounds and was eight of nine from the free-throw line.

"Twenty points, that's not bad for a kid that sat out 12 days," McKnight said. "It's a slow process getting back into the flow."

Los Alamitos took advantage of the Monarchs' slow start, jumping out to a 9-7 lead after the first quarter. Guard Cory Johnson's three points led four Griffin scorers in the opening quarter.

The Griffins (4-1) led, 11-7, before Mater Dei (2-0) got going. Guard Clay McKnight scored five consecutive points on a three-pointer and layup off a steal to give the Monarchs their first lead, 12-11.

Cotton scored six of Mater Dei's next 10 points to increase the edge to 22-16 at halftime. Los Alamitos went cold in the second quarter, hitting only three of 10 from the field.

Center Shaun Jackson carried the Monarchs through the third quarter, scoring six points, grabbing three rebounds and two steals. Mater Dei built a 34-19 lead with 3 minutes 23 seconds left before the Griffins went on a 10-2 run.

Johnson scored four points in the final three minutes to cut the deficit to seven points after three quarters.

Cotton took over in the final quarter, scoring eight straight points, including six on free throws. The Griffins hit three of 10 shots down the stretch, but couldn't hold off the Monarchs.

In his first career start, Mater Dei senior forward Mark Pozsgai held Los Alamitos center Jeremy Vandervoet to eight points. The Griffins hit only four of 18 from three-point range, and had nine turnovers.

Mater Dei shot 43% from the field and hit 14 of 19 from the free-throw line. The Monarchs also had 14 turnovers.

"We are struggling," McKnight said. "We have a lot of young kids blending with a lot of veterans. We are going to be a good team at the end of the year, but we are going to have our struggles."

Jackson finished with 15 points and six rebounds and sophomore guard Kevin Augustine added 11 points for Mater Dei.

Johnson scored 12 points to lead Los Alamitos. JON CLIFFORD

In other tournament games:

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 61, Mission Viejo 48 -- Kortney Okura scored 18 points and Jill Barker scored 14 for Mission Viejo (3-3).

Ontario 54, La Quinta 23 -- Tina Shum had 10 points for La Quinta (0-3), which suited up only five players because of injuries.

In the San Marcos tournament:

Goleta Dos Pueblos 54, Tustin 38 -- Katie Scheuerman scored 16 points and Allison Carr had 11 rebounds for Tustin (2-2) in first-round action. Dos Pueblos' Kristi Sanchez was the game's leading scorer with 17 points.

In the Woodbridge tournament:

Costa Mesa 63, Cerritos Gahr 57 -- Koo Kim and Corri Lurmann each scored career highs for the Mustangs (3-1). Kim scored 25 points and added 10 steals, eight assists and went 11-12 from the line. Lurmann scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Fountain Valley 68, Dana Hills 14 -- Fountain Valley advanced to the championship game on Friday with the victory. Nicole Strange led the Barons with 22 points and six steals. Heather Basco added 14 points and nine rebounds and Michelle Johnson scored 10.

Woodbridge 62, Estancia 25 -- Krissy Duperron scored 21 points and Angela Burgess added 12 for Woodbridge (4-0), ranked No. 1 in Orange County; it plays No. 5 Fountain Valley in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

In nonleague games:

Brethren Christian 56, Mayfair 53 (2 OT) -- Jennifer Sabounchi made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Brethren Christian (3-1) the victory. Elisa Yong, who led Brethren with 17 points, set up the second overtime with a 23-footer with one second remaining, tying the score at 50. Sabounchi finished the game with 15 points.

St. Margaret's 56, Tri-City 33 -- Jean Freeman had 16 points and 16 rebounds for St. Margaret's (2-1).

Charlie Whittingham didn't mince words after Strodes Creek's successful comeback in the $56,200 J.O. Tobin on Wednesday at Hollywood Park.

"I think he's the best horse in the country today," Whittingham said after the 3-year-old Halo colt rallied from last in his first race since finishing third in the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

After chasing Tabasco Cat and Go For Gin home in New York, Strodes Creek underwent surgery, then was bothered by a minor splint injury while preparing for his comeback.

Since returning to training, Strodes Creek had worked exceptionally well but wasn't scheduled to start until the Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, Santa Anita's opening-day stakes, but Whittingham chose to run him in the J.O. Tobin. That race was supposed to mark the return of another talented 3-year-old. However, Wekiva Springs will make his comeback in Saturday's $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Breeders' Cup Stakes.

Whether Strodes Creek is a match for Holy Bull remains to be seen, but he did what he was supposed to as the 7-10 favorite Wednesday.

Off a step slowly, which has been the norm for him, he trailed down the backside under Eddie Delahoussaye, moved up on the outside entering the stretch, then ran down 16-1 shot Subtle Trouble, who led by 2 1/2 lengths with an eighth of a mile to run.

Hit with the whip three times in midstretch, Strodes Creek won by nearly two lengths in 1:21 for the seven furlongs. The track record for the distance is 1:20 2/5.

"He had done everything right," said Whittingham of the colt he owns in partnership with Arthur Hancock III and Rose Hill Stable. "The rest we gave him helped. He's just learning."

Strodes Creek could surface in the seven-furlong Malibu, but it seems more likely that the second leg of Santa Anita's Strub Series, the 1 1/8-mile San Fernando Stakes on Jan. 14, will be his next start.

Justin Kerr scored two goals to help Newport Harbor defeat Dana Hills, 3-1, in a semifinal game of the Irvine boys' soccer tournament Wednesday.

Jerome Bouchet scored the Sailors' third goal midway in the second half. Juan Alenjo scored for Dana Hills in the first half.

Newport Harbor (5-0) advances to Saturday's championship game against Santa Margarita.

In another game of the Irvine tournament:

Laguna Hills 1, Irvine 0 -- Kevin McConaughy's goal 10 minutes into the second half lifted Laguna Hills (3-2-0) in the fifth-place semifinal game.

In nonleague boys' soccer:

Capistrano Valley 3, Santa Margarita 3 -- Capistrano Valley scored two goals in a 10-minute span of the second half to erase a two-goal deficit. Ryan Hawkins scored two goals and Nick Hannay added one for the Cougars (6-1-1).

Seth George scored two goals and Miguel Godoy added one for Santa Margarita (5-0-1), ranked second.

El Modena 5, Rialto Eisenhower 1 -- Bret Taylor scored two goals to lead El Modena (2-1). Nick Purdom, Robbie Merchant and David Fisher each added one in the victory over Eisenhower (2-1).

El Toro 0, Mater Dei 0 -- Charger goalie Sean Taeger made eight saves. Paul Gerdis had four saves for Mater Dei. El Toro (1-3-1) did score a goal in the first half but the Chargers were offside and the tally was nullified.

Fountain Valley 3, Long Beach Poly 0 -- Doug Holt scored the first goal for No. 1-ranked Fountain Valley 25 minutes into the game with an assist from Ryan Futagakin. Joey Vasquez scored the second goal and Joey Bove capped the scoring for Fountain Valley (4-0) on a penalty kick.

Fullerton 1, Western 0 -- Aaron Olea scored off an assist by Gurineara Sinngh for Fullerton (1-0-2).

Kennedy 3, La Quinta 2 -- Danny Arreguin's second-half penalty kick was the game-winner for visiting Kennedy (1-0-1). Arreguin had two goals. Leo Cituomen added another goal for Kennedy. Brendon Alves and Matt Siebert scored goals for La Quinta (0-3).

La Habra 1, El Dorado 0 -- Jeff Ruesga scored with 10 minutes remaining to break a scoreless tie and give La Habra (3-0) the victory over El Dorado (2-1). Aaron Scott had four saves for La Habra and El Dorado's Mark Zubiate also had four saves.

Orange 3, Santa Ana 1 -- Danny Califf, Victor Diaz and Lalo Rodriguez each scored goals for Orange (2-1-2). Jose Sorto had Santa Ana's only goal.

Santiago 2, Sonora 1 -- Adrian Robledo scored the winning goal with five minutes left to lead Santiago (4-0) past Sonora (2-1). Goalkeeper Alex Carranza had a save in the final two minutes to preserve the Cavaliers' victory.

Savanna 4, Troy 3 -- Goalkeeper Jose Albarran blocked five shots in the last five minutes of the game for Savanna (2-0-1) to dash any hopes for Troy (0-3).

Sunny Hills 5, Loara 0 -- Sunny Hills goalkeepers Jeff Murphy and Miguel Pasos combined to post a shutout and hand Loara (2-1) its first loss. Davis Lee had two goals for the Lancers (2-0).

St. Margaret's 2, Malibu Kilpatrick 0 -- Patrick Moss and James Harris each scored a goal to lead St. Margaret's (1-1). Teammate Jeremy Blumberg had 10 saves.

Valencia 1, Canyon 1 -- Bobby Reimbold scored a first-half goal for visiting Canyon (2-1-1). Valencia tied the score in the 55th minute.

In the Irvine girls' soccer tournament:

Irvine 1, Dana Hills 1 (Irvine wins shootout 3-2) -- Katie Roda scored a second-half goal to tie the score for tournament host Irvine (5-0). Irvine advanced on penalty kicks and will play Los Alamitos in the finals Saturday.

In nonleague girls' soccer:

Capistrano Valley Christian 3, Temecula Linfield 0 -- Danielle Reedy scored all three of Capistrano Valley Christian's goals in the first half. Goalies Rachel Beardslee and Lily Maniaci posted a shutout for the Eagles (2-1).

Costa Mesa 9, Rancho Alamitos 0 -- Jessica Schroeder scored five goals to lead Costa Mesa (3-1). Teammates Mandy Simones, Gegi Van de Walker, Shirley Blassman and Jamie Benson each added one.

In nonleague wrestling:

Villa Park 49, Sonora 16 -- Sean Mahoney and Ryan Mullion both scored pins in the first minute of their matches to lead Villa Park (1-0). Mahoney pinned Sonora's Matt Tomocoeff at 189 pounds in 28 seconds and Mullion, at 171 pounds, pinned Daniel Maynaed in 40 seconds.

Shaquille O'Neal sparked a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night to lead the Orlando Magic to a 90-75 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando.

The victory was the second in as many nights for the Magic over the Cavaliers, who stayed close for three quarters despite making only 39% of their shots.

The Magic broke the game open with the 10-0 run that gave them an 80-65 lead. Anfernee Hardaway, who had 14 points, made a three-point shot during the surge, which Anthony Avent finished with a fast-break tip-in.

Philadelphia 111, Miami 102 -- Jeff Malone scored 13 of his season-high 34 points in the third quarter to lead the 76ers at Miami.

"I've had some great games against the Heat," said Malone, who has topped 30 points five times against Miami.

With the victory, the 76ers join the Boston Celtics and the Lakers as the only three NBA teams with 2,000 victories. Since their inception in 1949 as the Syracuse Nationals, the 76ers are 2,000-1,564.

Dana Barros and former Miami player Willie Burton each scored 19 points for the 76ers. Glen Rice led Miami with 25.

Boston 93, Atlanta 80 -- Dee Brown scored 24 points and Xavier McDaniel 23 to help the Celtics overcome a 10-point deficit at Boston. The Celtics played without their leading scorer and rebounder, Dino Radja, who suffered a broken right hand Tuesday night against the New York Knicks.

Mookie Blaylock led the Hawks with a game-high 26 points. Stacey Augmon contributed 16 in his 11th consecutive double-figure game.

Eric Montross scored 16 points and had a season-high 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who ended a three-game losing streak.

San Fernando Valley cycling enthusiasts will get a chance to sweat it with Mayor Richard Riordan on his ongoing Ride L. A.: Community Bike Tour of Los Angeles.

Two 20-plus-mile rides are scheduled here: one in the West Valley on Dec. 17 and the other in the North Valley on April 22 of next year.

"The idea is to get a little community spirit going," said Mike Weintz, a veteran bicycle racer and coordinator of Ride L. A.

"This is such a large city. . . . (The ride) gives people a chance to see the city in a unique way," he said.

The upcoming West Valley tour will take the mayor and any interested participants from Cal State Northridge to Warner Ranch Park in Woodland Hills, then through Balboa Park and back to the university, according to the mayor's office.

Organizers of the bike tour said all participants under the age of 18 must wear a helmet and recommend that all others do so too.

For more information, call (213) 847-3634. MAKI BECKER

The women of the Verdugo Hills Showtime Chorus of Sweet Adelines are planning an unusual Christmas musical extravaganza this weekend in Glendale.

The four-part harmonies of barbershop music are usually associated with male voices, but the women's chorus, which was founded in 1954, has received international acclaim for its vocal prowess.The group recently placed eighth in the Sweet Adelines International competition in Reno, making it one of the top 10 groups in its field, said Carolyn Butler, master director of the group.

On Sunday, the Showtime Chorus, plus the Crescenta Valley Highlander Chorus, will perform at the third annual Barbershop Christmas show at Glendale High School. Both groups will perform traditional carols in their a cappella style, giving familiar Christmas music a new sound, said Nancy Branam, co-chairwoman of the show.

"This is Christmas caroling of the '90s, expanded and performed on stage with lights and sound," she said.

The 3 p.m. concert is in the high school auditorium. For tickets and information, call (818) 843-6909. STEVE RYFLE

Ted Gibson, who served as Encino's first postmaster and was active for many years in its community affairs, has died at his home in Santa Rosa. He was 95.

A longtime Encino resident who retired to Northern California in the 1980s, Gibson died in his sleep Wednesday, said his grandson, Ernie Harris.

Born Theo Gibson on Oct. 4, 1899 in Bellview, Tex., he settled in California with his family in 1907. While a 17-year-old high school student in Monrovia, Gibson persuaded his parents to let him enlist in the Army following the outbreak of World War I. He served six months in France and was discharged in 1919.

After the war, Gibson finished school and married his former classmate, Frances Tate, in 1921. In June of 1925, they moved to Encino where they ran the community's first grocery store and service station, according to Josie Hendricks, the Gibsons' longtime friend.

In 1966, Gibson recalled that the store, situated at the southeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and Oak Park Avenue, was a popular gathering place in the then-small community.

"It was the only spot, regardless of politics," he told The Times.

After the second Encino Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1936, Gibson served on the board of directors under entertainer Al Jolson, the chamber's first president. During many years with the chamber, he served as president, vice president, treasurer and secretary.

On April 18, 1938, Gibson was appointed Encino's first postmaster.

"I called the (postal) inspector and asked what I was supposed to do," he wrote of his appointment nearly 50 years later. "He said, 'You open a post office.' I knew what a stamp was, but little more. I bought two sections of boxes . . . built an office in the rear of our store and opened for business. I paid for everything."

Gibson served as postmaster until retiring in 1946. He later worked in real estate and was active with his wife in community affairs for many decades.

In the mid-1980s, the Gibsons retired to Santa Rosa. Frances Gibson died in February at age 93.

Survivors do not include any immediate relatives and there will be no services.

Lafferty & Smith Colonial Chapel in Santa Rosa is handling the arrangements. Gibson's cremated remains will be interred at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth and memorial donations may be made to the Encino chapter of the Kiwanis Club.

Barnhart, Robert L., 74, of Arleta, retired route salesman for Johnson's Overall and Dry Cleaning. Praiswater Funeral Home, Van Nuys.

CaJacob, Charles, 81, of Tujunga, retired clerk for U.S. Postal Service. Woods Glendale Mortuary, Glendale.

Cesario, Josephine Theresa, 76, of Panorama City, retired shipping clerk for Active Blouse Co. San Fernando Mortuary, San Fernando.

Chadwick, Spencer, 84, of Burbank, retired home furniture salesman. Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale.

Coltrin, William Lincoln, 83, of Glendale, retired piano teacher. Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale.

Des Roches, William Robert, 70, of Woodland Hills, retired engineer for Rocketdyne. Gates, Kingsley & Gates Mortuary, Canoga Park.

Dorage, Katherine Gloria, 60, of Chatsworth, clerk for advertising company. Bastian & Perrott Mortuary, Northridge.

Frederick, George Lynn, 89, of Laguna Beach, formerly of Glendale, retired salesman for Sears. Woods Glendale Mortuary, Glendale. (S-Sat.)

Heath, Christina Maria Sorensen, 88, of Pasadena, formerly of Van Nuys, homemaker. Pierce Brothers Valhalla Mortuary, North Hollywood.

Huelgas, Emeterio, 80, of Sunland, retired president of Republic Bank of the Philippines. Woods Glendale Mortuary, Glendale.

Huerta, Andres, 73, of Lancaster, retired minister. Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel, Lancaster.

Kill, Mary Bernardine, 83, of Newhall, retired cafeteria worker for Newhall School District. Eternal Valley Mortuary, Newhall.

Lee, I., 75, of Northridge, retired officer for Taiwan navy. Forest Lawn Mortuary, Hollywood Hills.

Lucas, Carmella (Babe), 77, of Canoga Park, homemaker. Bastian & Perrott Mortuary, Northridge.

Mahone, Christopher B., 37, of Glendale, former owner of V.W.K. Design Consultants. Kiefer & Eyerick Mortuary, Glendale.

Paleno, Eugene Mario, 98, of Palmdale, retired sheet metal worker for General Motors. Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel, Palmdale.

Perring, Elaine E., 83, of Reseda, retired nurse's aide. Forest Lawn Mortuary, Hollywood Hills.

Raible, James Marcus Jr., 52, of Palmdale, supervisor for Desert Aire Golf Course. Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel, Lancaster.

Rohrer, Donald R., 66, of Palmdale, meat cutter for Superior Meat Co. Chapel of the Valley Mortuary, Palmdale.

Sacker, Mason H., 88, of Valley Village, retired clerk for U.S. Postal Service. Glasband-Willen Mortuary, North Hollywood.

Terranova, Charles, 94, of Sun Valley, retired head meat cutter for Safeway. Woods Glendale Mortuary, Glendale.

Venegas, Desiree Rico, infant, of Panorama City. San Fernando Mortuary, San Fernando.

Obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. They are based on information provided by mortuaries.

Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway says the final decision on his availability for Sunday's game against the Raiders at the Coliseum probably won't be made until that day.

Elway has a strained muscle in his left knee, an injury suffered last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, sidelining him in the fourth quarter.

Asked if he could have faced the Raiders on Wednesday, Elway said, "I couldn't play right now."

Elway, who has sat out six starts in his 12 pro seasons, is officially listed as questionable for Sunday. Although he is feeling better, he is not expected to practice at all this week. If Elway can't play, he will be replaced by Hugh Millen, who came in to lead the Broncos to a victory on Sunday.

"If I go in there and I'm not effective, Hugh might be able to be more effective," Elway said. "So I've got to be smart to where I'm not hurting the team."

Elway said he isn't sure the Raiders care whether he plays, considering that they have beaten Denver in 10 of their last 11 meetings.

"I think they're really not too concerned about it, because they've had a lot of success even with me in there," he said. "They are probably looking at it as if it doesn't matter who is in there."

It matters to Raider Coach Art Shell.

"We will prepare for John Elway," he said. "I really feel John Elway is going to play. If there's any way to play, he's going to play."

*

The Raiders do not expect to sell out by 1 p.m. today, the deadline for lifting the television blackout, but do expect, based on ticket sales, a large crowd. . . . The annual Raiders Toys for Tots program, run in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps, will be in operation at Sunday's game. Fans are encouraged to bring unwrapped toys that will be collected at the gates and distributed to needy children. STEVE SPRINGER

Saying he wanted to find a spark for his 4-9 team, Coach Chuck Knox will start Chris Chandler at quarterback in place of Chris Miller for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers at Tampa, Fla.

Chandler, 2-2 as a starter this season, has been the coaching staff's leading candidate for the job but has been recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the Raider game. He came off the bench in the fourth quarter last week against New Orleans when Miller suffered a mild concussion.

Chandler said Wednesday he is sound. Knox called the quarterbacks into his office separately to tell them of the change.

"This is no reflection on Chris Miller," Knox said. "Both have started, and both have been hurt.

"We're looking for a spark, Chandler played back at Tampa, and we felt it was time to do something. Miller just came off a head injury. There were a lot of reasons. "

Knox said Miller, 2-7 as a starter, will back up Chandler.

"Obviously I'm frustrated," Miller said.

*

Knox can swap notes on team troubles with Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche, whose team also is 4-9 and whose job is also rumored to be on the line.

But Wyche has one problem that Knox doesn't: heckling fans.

A group of Tampa fans behind the Buccaneer bench has been pretty tough on Wyche, who jabbed back at them Wednesday.

"You remember your first beer, don't you?" Wyche said. "These guys are reliving their childhood. There are eight of them now (behind the bench). . . . They memorized their one chant, and if they don't repeat it enough, they'll forget it."

And what chant is that?

"The Jimmy Johnson chant," Wyche said.

*

As expected, the Rams put rookie defensive tackle D'Marco Farr on the injured-reserve list and promoted defensive end Jay Williams from the injured-reserve list to the 53-man roster. . . . Injury report: Rams -- defensive tackle Jimmie Jones (ankle) and linebacker Joe Kelly (knee) are questionable. Tampa Bay -- linebacker Barney Bussey (shoulder) and defensive end Keith Powe (knee) are probable. MIKE REILLEY

It wasn't until Dave Pinsel's desperation three-point shot at the buzzer fell short Wednesday that the Buena High basketball team could collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

By withstanding a furious Hart rally in the final three minutes, Buena posted a 54-51 victory and advanced to Friday's semifinals of the Beverly Hills tournament.

Buena will play against Loyola at 7:30 p.m.

Hart, defending tournament champion, nearly overcame a 10-point deficit in the final minutes.

The Indians' 35-34 lead after three quarters disappeared when Buena scored 11 consecutive points as Hart went five possessions in a row without a shot.

"We have an inexperienced team and we will learn," Hart Coach Mike May said.

"There were too many turnovers and we can't afford to do that due to our lack of size."

The temporary lapse only set the stage for Hart's comeback.

Guard Mike Posey hit two three-point shots and converted a three-point play during the run for nine of his 15 points.

Posey's second three-pointer brought Hart to within 52-51 with 20 seconds remaining, but Buena's John Tobias sank two clinching free throws.

Ryan Howrey had 16 points for Buena.

Buena improved to 4-1 and Hart dropped to 3-3.

Loyola 73, Cleveland 62 -- Unable to handle the Lions' press, the Cavaliers committed 22 turnovers.

Ryan Bailey scored 25 points for Loyola (5-0) and Eric Bible had 11 for Cleveland.

The Cavaliers are 1-4.

The tired old excuse "I couldn't see the ball because the sun was in my eyes" was used by a winner Wednesday.

Believe it or not, Taft High singles player Julia Feldman said the glare of the afternoon sun provided more discomfort than the wind, the cool temperature and even her opponent, Ilona Kordonskay, in a 6-3, 6-4 victory in a semifinal of the City Section girls' individual tournament at the Racquet Centre.

"(The north side of the court) was pretty bad," Feldman said. "I would serve and I wouldn't know what happened. . . . I couldn't see where the ball was going."

The senior, who has a 47-2 record and was making her third consecutive semifinal appearance, will face Dorsey sophomore Kendra Segura in Friday's 1:30 p.m. final. Top-seeded Segura is the defending champion.

Feldman, who lost to Segura in the semifinals last year, is seeded second. In doubles, top-seeded Juanita Narida and Merry Arrogante of Carson eliminated Stephanie Shapiro and Terri Rosenthal of Taft, 6-0, 7-5.

A strong server, Feldman pounded the ball into the brightness when she had to play the north side. But Kordonskay, also a hard server, was tentative.

Trying to play it safe, the freshman from Los Angeles High served softly from that side. Feldman attacked, hitting several winners off those easy serves. Four times in the first set, Feldman broke Kordonskay, who twice double-faulted on game point.

But Kordonskay covered the court well and displayed a dangerous backhand. She gained confidence in the second set, fighting off five break points and staying even at 4-4. But Feldman pulled ahead, 5-4, with a service winner and coaxed Kordonskay into two unforced errors in the freshman's final service to win the match.

"I'm excited about getting to the finals," Feldman said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Two years ago, Feldman lost in the final to then-teammate Brahna Pastorini. Her only other loss at Taft came in the 1993 semifinals to Segura, 6-3, 6-4. Segura went on to upset defending champion Pastorini, 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 6-3, in the final.

Segura earned the right to defend her title Wednesday by defeating Dorsey teammate Delana Daniels, 6-4, 6-2.

Tickets for Saturday's Mater Dei-La Puente Bishop Amat football game, for the Southern Section Division I championship, will go on sale at 9 a.m today at Anaheim Stadium.

Tickets are on sale at both schools and at Ticketmaster outlets.Tickets are $9 and $8 for reserved seating, $7 for general admission, $4 for students, and $3 for children under 12.

Student tickets are available only on a pre-sale basis and will not be available at Anaheim Stadium Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:40 p.m.

Bishop Amat (13-0) is ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and features running back Daylon McCutcheon, son of former Ram running back Lawrence McCutcheon. Mater Dei (13-0) defeated Los Alamitos, 28-24, in a semifinal game at Anaheim Stadium last week.

*

Two Irvine Novaquatics swimmers have signed letters of intent. Woodbridge's Jaimee Lidstrom signed with New Mexico and Santa Margarita's Brooke Martin signed with Nevada.

Lidstrom won Southern Section championships in the 200 individual medley in 1993 and '94.

Also, Marina's Angela Burke has orally committed to Regis University in Denver, where she will play softball.

Christian Fauria of the University of Colorado was named an Associated Press third-team All-American on Wednesday.

Fauria is a senior tight end who graduated from Crespi High in 1990.

Colorado will play Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. Girls' Softball

Ashlie Hayes of Northridge has signed a national letter of intent to play softball at the University of Massachusetts, the school announced.

Hayes, a senior, attends Chaminade High but will play club softball rather than compete for the Eagles this season, Chaminade Coach Tom Fewless said. DAVE DESMOND

Led by Harvard-Westlake, boys' soccer will be well-represented among the area's Southern Section schools. The Wolverines boast a deep and experienced team that should advance far in the Division III playoffs and could well bring home a title. Notre Dame will challenge Harvard-Westlake in the Mission League and both Palmdale and Burroughs will present roadblocks in the section playoffs.

Elsewhere in the Southern Section, Royal will again be a power in Division I while Buena hopes nine new starters can put the Bulldogs in the Division II postseason for the sixth time in seven seasons.

In the City Section, Birmingham looks to rise from last season's abbreviated and losing season on the feet of Gabriel Ortega, and should hold off Reseda and Kennedy.

BIRMINGHAM

COACH: Jose Freire

RECORD LAST SEASON: 3-4-1

SYNOPSIS: Blessed with a distinct home-field advantage and several strong upperclassmen, the Braves should be among the city's better teams this year.

While most of the section's teams labor in the cramped boundaries and dust of football fields, Birmingham is lucky enough to play on an Olympic-sized pitch (75 feet wide, 120 feet long) covered with grass.

"Not having to share our field with anybody, we may have developed a little faster than the other teams," said Freire, whose squad is 2-0 this season.

"Other teams tend to get tired when they play us there, but also, when we play on a short field we get crowded."

Freire has a crew that could operate out of a shoebox if necessary. Ortega, a junior and first-team North Valley League selection, leads the team from the midfield. He is also designated as the Braves' shooter on penalty kicks, having made four already this season and eight in the last two.

Midfielders, seniors and second team all-league selections Edwin Espranza and Jaime Tinajero will help Ortega control games, while sophomore stopper Joshua Smith has shown promise at keeping the ball in front of diminutive goaltender Edgar Delgado.

BURROUGHS

COACH: Mike Kodama

RECORD LAST SEASON: 15-7-3

SYNOPSIS: Kodama is upbeat despite returning only six varsity players from last year's team that won a third consecutive Foothill League championship and advanced to the Division III Southern Section final.

"We should be able to handle the ball very well but we're young and small, so we'll try to keep the ball on the ground," said Kodama, who doesn't see his team winning many battles in the air. "This team has the potential to be as good as the Burroughs teams of recent years."

Jesus Diaz, a senior midfielder who is the team's playmaker, is a cousin of Burroughs' 1993-94 All-American Roberto Perez, now at Cal State Northridge.

Senior goalkeeper David Ramos should be a solid backstop, while senior Gabriel Santana and sophomore Claudio Navarette, both forwards, move up from the junior varsity.

BUENA

COACH: Sean Roche

RECORD LAST SEASON: 15-6-3

SYNOPSIS: Steady defense leads to steady play for the Bulldogs, who have made the Southern Section playoffs five of the past six years.

Last year's team wound up second in the Channel League and advanced to the second round of the playoffs before bowing to Mater Dei. And they did it with consistency from the net out, led by goaltender Mark Thompson, who returns after posting 14 shutouts a year ago.

Thompson may have to come up big early on, for Buena lost nine starters from last year's team. Senior fullback Shepley Brohammer and junior midfielder Jose Mendosa (two goals, nine assists) will be crucial to the attack, while senior striker Aaron Older (three goals, four assists) must find the net more often to keep the Bulldogs in close games.

Junior Darryl Mundy, fresh from football, will find a spot somewhere in the lineup but Roche is unsure where to pencil in the fast and physical player.

"These guys enjoy playing with each other and they should be able to handle stress better than most teams," Roche said. "Defensively we're strong; scoring on other teams could be a problem."

PALMDALE

COACH: Claudia Cline

RECORD LAST SEASON: 22-2-2

SYNOPSIS: Cline moves up from the Falcons' junior varsity and inherits a team that advanced to the Division III quarterfinals last season.

Cline, who began her coaching career 12 years ago in area youth programs, will rely on seniors Raul Rossil and Bryce Sewalson in the midfield and a back line of seniors Justice Jones and Bryce Sewalson along with junior Geoff Carlson.

Firepower should come from junior forward Murad Dibbini, whose older brother Mike played for Palmdale last season and led the Golden League in scoring.

"We typically play a defensive style but we're working on becoming well-rounded and on having everyone get into the game on offense," Cline said. "We strive to keep the game's pace fast."

KENNEDY

COACH: Fred Singer

RECORD LAST SEASON: 16-4-2

SYNOPSIS: A traditionally strong program, the Golden Cougars may struggle to make the playoffs this season as ineligibility and injury slow them down.

Kennedy won the Northwest Valley Conference championship last season and advanced to the City semifinals but suffered heavy losses to graduation on the back line, and will need younger players to step in immediately.

Junior midfielder/forward Adam Rofer scored nine goals last season and will be counted on heavily, along with defensive standout Robbie Shapiro, a senior sweeper. Senior goaltender Shawn Beattie will start for the third consecutive year after allowing only 1.1 goals a game last season.

HARVARD-WESTLAKE

COACH: Rick Commons

RECORD LAST SEASON: 20-1-4

SYNOPSIS: Harvard-Westlake roared through last season's lengthy schedule without a hitch, reaching the semifinals of the Division III Southern Section playoffs before being dumped by Bell Gardens. The Wolverines allowed only 12 goals all season and return seven starters, bad news for other local teams.

"We have a lot of talent coming back and we're probably the favorite (in the Mission League), but we had some very close games last year," said Commons, who has 11 seniors among his 16 players. "It's possible we could go a very long way, even all the way, in the playoffs. It's also possible that we could get knocked off by two or three teams in our league before we ever get there."

Senior captain and midfielder Warren Davidoff was the Mission League's offensive player of the year and a first-team All-Southern Section pick, scoring 13 goals. Senior midfielder Brian Angelini added seven scores and senior striker David Tuizer had three goals in the Wolverines' first three playoff games despite missing much of the season with a severe groin pull.

Senior goaltender Jay Rosen was a second-team All-Southern Section pick, posting 15 shutouts.

SIMI VALLEY

COACH: Ken Dale

RECORD LAST SEASON: 14-5-2

SYNOPSIS: Though rookie coach Dale kept his program's supporters happy with a win and a tie over archrival Royal last year, he spent much of last season trying to get his team to play at a similar level against other teams.

"For the kids, beating Royal is important and a lot of emphasis was placed on that," said Dale, who lost six starters from last year's team. "You want to beat the guys from your neighborhood and some of last year's seniors had never done that at any level. At the same time I'm disappointed we didn't have the same focus in other games."

It wasn't a bad season all the same. Simi Valley finished second to Royal in the Marmonte League and placed center midfielder Alfonso Ruiz on the All-Southern Section second team. Ruiz is back to captain the Pioneers in his senior season after playing in the California Olympic Development program over the summer. He will team with junior forward/midfielder Sean Herrity, who played in France this summer with the U.S. under-17 national team, and senior midfielder Damon Harris.

"We definitely need to make the playoffs; the tradition established here dictates that," said Dale, whose team fell to Hawthorne in the first round of last year's Division I playoffs. "But we lost a lot of defense to graduation so we'll need to possess the ball as much as possible and take a lot of shots."

NOTRE DAME

COACH: Colin McFeely

RECORD LAST SEASON: 16-8-1

SYNOPSIS: Football isn't the only program at Notre Dame that relies on the leg of Chris Sailer. The senior kicker who recently set the state record for field goals in a season will turn his attention to helping the Knights' soccer team defend its 1994 Mission League title.

Sailer scored 23 goals in as many games for Notre Dame and was the Mission League MVP and an All-Southern Section pick. His continued dominance from the midfield should boost the Knights, but a strong supporting cast won't hurt either.

McFealy lists senior midfielder Andres Padilla, junior striker Steve Lee and junior Jeff Teague, a positional nomad, as the workhorses for his squad.

Padilla is an emotional leader, while Lee will seek to recapture the consistency of two years ago, when he scored 13 goals as a freshman. Teague is the team's unsung hero, described by McFeely as being "as consistent as the day is long."

ROYAL

COACH: Kevin Corley

RECORD LAST SEASON: 21-4-3

SYNOPSIS: The past two seasons have ended in heartbreak for Corley and the Highlanders. After a pair of successful campaigns, the team has bowed out in the first round of the Division I Southern Section playoffs each season, including last year's defeat to Edison at home in a hailstorm.

"We were ranked No. 1 in Division I most of the year and to go out like that was very disappointing," said Corley, in his fourth year as coach. "In the past we've focused on offense but we have practiced team defense over and over this year because in the playoffs one little mistake can kill you."

This season holds the promise of further advancement, mostly due to a quartet of returning seniors, all of whom earned All-Marmonte League honors in 1993-94.

Three of the four -- Tim Pederson (10 goals, 13 assists), Vince Alves (five goals, six assists) and Chris Fernandez (13 goals, six assists) -- are midfielders. Alves was an All-Southern Section selection and Pederson landed on the second team.

The fourth All-League player, 6-3, 220-pound goaltender Ty Russell, posted a 1.2 goals-against average. A standout defensive lineman on the Highlander football team, he will be out at least three weeks after surgery for a hernia that he played with during the final weeks of the football season.

"He's going to be the best goalkeeper in our league by far," Corley said. "He's intimidating in there. Most teams will get one breakaway a game and then that's it, they don't want anything to do with him."

Harvard-Westlake's Amanda Selby was named to the All-Southern Section Division II first team. Teammate Kristin Bohle was selected to the second team.

Blair Thomas of Agoura was a Division I second-team selection.

In Division IV, Nordhoff's Jami Sawyer and Julie Sanderfur were voted to the first team.

Darcie Frazier of L.A. Baptist received first-team honors in Division V, and teammate Tunde Hrotko was picked to the second team. Stephanie Nocum of Bell-Jeff was also a second-team selection. Water Polo

Agoura senior two-meter man Chris Driscoll has been named Marmonte League most valuable player.

Driscoll set a school record with 202 goals this year, leading the Chargers to a share of the league title, a berth in the Southern Section Division IV semifinals and a 20-5 record.

He was also picked to the All-Southern Section Division IV team.

James Mosley scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds to lead The Master's College to a 100-86 nonconference victory Wednesday over Azusa Pacific in Newhall.

Guard Doug Leaman added a career-high 26 points as the host Mustangs (5-2) won their third consecutive game. Leo Garauskas scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds. Mike Penberthy scored 15 points and had nine assists. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Canyons 99, Victor Valley 50 -- Freshman Kyetra Brown scored 12 points and had 14 assists in a nonconference game at Canyons. Stephanie Labor scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds. BOYS' BASKETBALL

Carson 81, Chatsworth 77 -- The Chancellors led, 77-76, with eight seconds left, but couldn't hold on in a nonleague game at Carson.

Edde Miller had 20 points and eight rebounds for Chatsworth (2-1).

Royal 78, Hueneme 56 -- Scott Hambly of Royal (4-1) made five three-point baskets en route to 19 points in a Channel Islands tournament first-round game.

Channel Islands 75, Dunn 52 -- Junior Mosones scored 13 points and was one of four players to score in double figures for Channel Islands (3-1) in the Channel Islands tournament first-round game.

Oxnard 71, Coastal Christian 36 -- Geoffrey Phillips and Vinny Santiago each scored nine points as 12 Yellowjackets scored in a first-round game of the Channel Islands tournament.

Campbell Hall 52, Hawthorne 39 -- Mike Appel of Campbell Hall (3-1) scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half of the El Segundo tournament second-round game.

Redlands 75, Littlerock 63 -- John George scored 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting, but the Lobos (2-3) fell in the first round of the Arlington tournament.

Villanova 60, Happy Valley 47 -- The Wildcats outscored Happy Valley, 30-6, in the fourth quarter of the Condor League game. Matt LaVere scored 15 of his 24 points in the quarter for Villanova (1-4, 1-1).

Eagle Rock 76, Verdugo Hills 63 -- Maurice Potter scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds for Verdugo Hills (0-5, 0-1), which had a four-point lead at halftime, but was outscored 26-7 in the third quarter of the Northern Conference game. GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Notre Dame 70, Burbank 31 -- Maggie Dixon had 28 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists and five steals to lead the host Knights (5-1) in a nonleague game. It was the first triple-double in the program's history.

Carson 64, Chatsworth 58 -- The Chancellors (2-1) overcame an eight-point first-quarter deficit to pull to within two with 41 seconds left, but could not take the lead in the nonconference game at Chatsworth.

Royal 47, Bell-Jeff 45 -- The Highlanders (2-1) trailed by eight points with 1 minute 30 seconds to play, but rallied to win the Gold Coast Classic game at Rio Mesa on two free throws by Jennie Broadhurst with 30 seconds left.

Eagle Rock 52, Verdugo Hills 39 -- Stephanie Colter scored 24 points but it wasn't enough for Verdugo Hills (0-1, 0-1) in a Northern Conference opener at Eagle Rock. GIRLS' SOCCER

Chatsworth 9, Cleveland 0 -- Melinda George scored three goals to lead the Chancellors (3-0) in a Northwest Valley Conference rout.

El Camino Real 8, Reseda 0 -- Courtney Henderson scored four first-half goals for El Camino Real (2-0, 2-0) in a West Valley Conference game. Reseda (0-2, 0-2) did not have a shot on goal.

Hart 1, Palmdale 1 -- Vanessa Ferra scored early in the second half for Hart, which held on for a nonleague tie. BOYS' SOCCER

Chatsworth 3, Birmingham 3 -- Edwin Esperanza of Birmingham scored his second goal of the Northwest Valley Conference match with only minutes to play to forge a tie at Birmingham.

El Camino Real 4, Cleveland 1 -- Omar Gutierrez scored two goals to lead the Conquistadores (1-2, 1-2) in a Northwest Valley Conference match.

Taft 2, Granada Hills 0 -- Oscar Hernandez scored both goals for the Toreadors (3-2-1, 1-2) in a Northwest Valley Conference match at Granada Hills.

Thousand Oaks 5, Oxnard 0 -- Senior forward James Pashley scored three goals to lead the visiting Lancers (3-1).

Steve Glass of Porter Valley Country Club was honored as professional of the year by the United States Professional Tennis Assn. at the California Division 1994 awards banquet in Newport Beach last weekend.

Glass and three other area tennis coaches received awards from the USPTA.

Chaminade High girls' Coach Robert Childers was chosen high school coach of the year. Former Newbury Park and Villanova Prep standout Sean Brawley, now director of tennis at Spanish Hills in Camarillo, was chosen men's player of the year for winning the USPTA national tournament in August.

Former Pierce College Coach Paul Xanthos was given a lifetime achievement award.

The USPTA California Division includes the Greater Los Angeles area, Orange County and San Luis Obispo County.

Floyd Payne and Glenn Ray Johnson each scored four points in overtime as Fullerton beat Rio Hondo, 93-86, Wednesday in the first round of the Riverside tournament.

Rio Hondo outscored Fullerton, 48-38, in the second half to force overtime, but the Hornets scored the first eight points.Marcus Austin scored 24 points and Payne added 22 for Fullerton (7-4), which plays Imperial Valley at 3 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

In other Riverside tournament games:

Imperial Valley 91, Golden West 82 -- Golden West led, 39-33, with 2:11 left in the half but was outscored, 13-4, and trailed at the break, 46-43.

Dejun Matthews had 25 for Golden West (3-5), which never led in the second half.

In nonconference women's basketball:

Orange Coast 75, Cerritos 69 -- Stephanie McNamara led Orange Coast (10-2) with 20 points. Teammate America Robledo added 17 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Babita Singh led Cerritos with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Huntington Beach welterweight John Armijo will headline tonight's fight card at the Irvine Marriott that begins at 7:30 p.m. Armijo (18-7, 11 knockouts), riding a four-bout winning streak, will face Gilbert Flores (24-13, 21 knockouts) of Los Angeles in a 10-round fight.

Since returning from a one-year layoff, Armijo has victories over Rene Aredondo and Bazooka Limon.

The featured undercard bout is a six-rounder between Huntington Beach bantamweight Kid Dynamo (3-1-2) and Frankie Hanks (3-2) of El Monte. Tickets for the six-bout event are $25, $30 and $35 and go on sale at the Irvine Marriott at 9 a.m. today. DAVE McKIBBEN

Coach: John Phillips (eighth year).

1993-94: 15-3-1, 6-0-1 in the Sea View League; although University was the league favorite in preseason polls, Irvine won its second consecutive title and was second to Calvary Chapel at Southern Section Division III championships.

Key returners: Jeremy Brown, Sr., 125; Peter Hamilton, Jr., 112; Justin Meier, Sr., 135; Steve Ruiz, Sr., 189; Alan Rush, Jr., 140; Cris Testerman, Sr., 140.

Key newcomers: Andrew Pena, So., 119; Zak Stevens, So., 135; Tim Testerman, So., 145.

Outlook: Now that Calvary Chapel has moved to Division I and University is in the Pacific Coast League, Phillips thinks the Vaqueros can not only win their third consecutive league title but also have a shot at the Division II championship. Irvine, which lost only three starters from last year, is led by Meier, who qualified for the state championships, and Ruiz, who finished fourth in the section Division III finals. Phillips also has high expectations for league champions Testerman and Hamilton.

Coach: John Azevedo (sixth year).

1993-94: 17-0, 3-0 in the Olympic League; won its second consecutive State championship and in the process set a record for team points.Qualified eight wrestlers to the state tournament, where Shane Valdez (112), Ed Mosley (152) and Josh Holiday (145) won titles.

Key returners: Mike Aquirre, Sr., 171; Joe Calavitta, So., 125; Josh Holiday, Sr., 152; Ed Mosley, Sr., 160.

Key newcomers: Danny Robinson, Sr., 145; Matt Van Hook, Sr., 189.

Outlook: Despite the loss of wrestling twins Shane and Dane Valdez, the Eagles are ranked No. 1 in the state in the Wrestler Assn.'s preseason poll. Though not popular among public schools because of their ability to recruit -- Aquirre is a recent transfer from Victor Valley High -- Azevedo and his "Church Boyz" pay no mind to the talk. Though not as strong as last season's team in the lower weights, the Eagles are seemingly unbeatable in the middle- and upper-weight classes. Barring any injuries, watch for Holiday, and maybe Mosley, to repeat as state champions.

Coach: Joe Mark (fifth year).

1993-94: 26-5, 5-0 in the Orange League; the league champions qualified nine wrestlers to the Southern Section Division I championships.

Key returners: Alex Coria, Jr., 125; Robert Droughns, Jr., 171; Reuben Droughns, Jr., 189; Hugo Herria, Jr., 112; Jose Lopez, Sr., 103; Manny Megia, Jr., 135; Leonard Ruiz, Jr., 152; Alexei Yanuaria, Sr., 130.

Key newcomers: None.

Outlook: Mark thinks his team was shortchanged when the preseason rankings had the Colonists ranked sixth in the county. He believes they should be second only to Calvary Chapel. He has 13 returning starters, eight of whom are ranked in the top five in their respective weight classes. Maybe Mark has a point. In any event, Anaheim should do well this season. The Droughns brothers will no doubt have another good season. Also watch for Lopez, who went 42-7 last season and is ranked No. 1 in the county's preseason poll at 103 pounds.

Coach: Cliff Jarmie (12th year).

1993-94: 15-1, 5-0 in the Pacific Coast League; breezed through its league schedule to win its sixth consecutive title but ran into Calvary Chapel in the Division III dual meet championship.

Key returners: Casey Elliott, Sr., 152; Jeff Greco, Sr., 140; Mike Greco, Sr., 145; Scott Morinoue, Sr., 135; Mark Zolikoff, Sr., Hwt.

Key newcomers: Abel Bratton, Jr., 135; Thanh Nguyen, Jr., 119.

Outlook: Jarmie thinks he has a strong group of experienced wrestlers, particularly in the middle and heavyweight classes. Jarmie said Elliott has been looking exceptional on the mat and might surprise some people. Heavyweight Zolikoff, who was league champion and qualified for the State tournament last season, should again be a strong performer. "Last year, we used up a lot of our energy on the Southern Section dual meet championships with Calvary Chapel," Jarmie said. "As a result, some of our guys were eliminated in the first round (of the section individuals). This year, we will focus all our energy on Southern Section (individuals) and Masters tournaments."

Coach: Alan Clinton (10th year).

1993-94: 23-1, 5-0 in the Empire League; Division I dual and team champions and sixth-place finishers at the State tournament.

Key returners: Chad Adams, Jr., 189; Colin Burns, Sr., 130; Dan Kingman, Jr., 189; Brian Klinker, Sr., 125; Nick Long, Jr., 171; Aaron Santana, Jr., 160; David Sauedo, Jr., Hwt.; Milo Ventimiglia, Sr., 119.

Key newcomers: Jeff Box, Sr., 140; Dan Brown, Sr., 152; Chris Elder, Jr., 130; Grant Gardner, Jr., 135; Page Kishiyama, Sr., 130; Jeff Sacramento, Jr., 112; Nathan Stauber, Jr., 160.

Outlook: Ranked fourth in the county, the Vanguards not only have lost key people to graduation but also have to face Calvary Chapel in Division I. And while its pretty much of a given that Calvary Chapel will win the title, El Modena will provide plenty of competition. Led by Ventimiglia, who took fifth at the Division I finals, and Klinker and Burns, who were Division I qualifiers, the Vanguards will be strong in the lower and middle weights. El Modena continues to move up strong wrestlers from the JV and frosh-soph ranks -- a testimony to Clinton's program.

Every college generation deserves a "Catcher in the Rye" or "A Separate Peace" of its own, and this fine first novel seems a strong contender for the '90s. In Stewart O'Nan's "Snow Angels," 14-year-old Arthur Parkinson tells two distinct stories, never forcing the connection but allowing the lives of the Marchand family and the Parkinsons to merge, separate and rejoin in the small Pennsylvania town where both lived.

The novel is set in 1974, when Arthur is a high school freshman and his parents are separated and waiting for their divorce to become final. He's at band practice when gunshots startle the crowd of students. "What we had heard was someone being murdered, someone most of us know, if dimly."

The victim turns out to be Annie Marchand, who had baby-sat for Arthur and his sister years before, when the Parkinson family was intact and Annie was herself an ebullient teen-ager. Arthur's connection with her was more than merely casual. More than once as a child, he had caught himself wishing that vivacious, red-haired Annie was his mother.

Now Arthur's sister, Astrid, is thousands of miles away with the Army in Germany; his father has moved out, and Arthur and his mother are living in a seedy apartment project, pretending not to mind their reduced circumstances -- and fooling no one. Caught between his hostile parents, Arthur is smoking too much pot, ditching school and retreating into a no-man's-land of his own.

Annie Marchand has grown up, married and had a daughter, but she and husband Glenn are no longer together. Annie is living alone with her toddler in an isolated, run-down house at the end of a cul de sac, working as a waitress at the country club and is in the midst of a pointless affair with a guy who just happens to belong to her best friend. Even though Glenn Marchand still adores her, Annie is bored with his fecklessness, tired of rushing home to a demanding child and a husband who's spent the day on the sofa with a six-pack and the TV.

She's vulnerable, and Brock picks up signals she hardly knows she's given.

Arthur tells her story as he tells his own, letting the reader perceive the parallels and make the analogies. Butler, Pa., doesn't offer much beyond a decaying downtown, a shabby strip mall, a couple of fast-food places, the steel mill and the Home for Crippled Children where Arthur's mother works.

The best and the brightest leave town as soon as they can. Twenty years later, when Arthur and his sister go back to Butler for their annual Christmas visit to their mother, the name of the Home has been changed to the politically correct "Rehabilitation Center," but everything else is just as it was the year that Annie Marchand was killed and Arthur's father left home.

Seeing the town again, ritualistically driving past his old house, he tries to put the events of that pivotal season in perspective. In reliving the story of that particular winter, he finally succeeds in comprehending the pressures that led to his parents' breakup and to the Marchands' compound tragedy. He couldn't make sense of these things as an adolescent, but in retrospect, everything that happened seems predestined and inevitable.

Recollected, the bits and pieces of Annie Marchand's life create a distinct pattern of carelessness, disappointment and despair, each small and apparently insignificant incident building on the one before until the whole ramshackle structure crumbles, destroying an entire family. Told in roughly alternating chapters, the disparate elements of the novel fuse naturally, subtly but dramatically illustrating the inexorable process by which hope fades, ambition falters and love dies.

Rueful and ironic, "Snow Angels" proves the enduring vitality of realism. Once you've finished it, your view of flyover towns and the people who live and work there will be radically and permanently changed. You won't soon forget the Parkinsons and the Marchands, and you'll wonder what happened to the folks who used to be called the salt of the earth and the backbone of America. The answers aren't easy, but they're worth exploring.

Thirty-two years after Marina del Rey yacht owners first festooned their boats with Christmas lights to celebrate the end of a fierce storm, 100 boat owners will do so again and sail Saturday evening in the annual Christmas Boat Parade.

This year's theme is "Music of the Seven Seas," with former Limelighters troubadour Glenn Yarbrough, known as the Singing Sailor, leading the parade as grand marshal. As many as 75,000 spectators have gathered at past parades to watch the yachts, some adorned with pirate scenes, palm trees, and boxes of toys with music and animation.

This year's parade will begin with fireworks at 5:30 p.m. and is scheduled to last about two hours. Parking for spectators is available in 12 lots throughout the marina.

Viewing sites include Fisherman's Village, 13755 Fiji Way, and Burton Chace Park, 13650 Mindanao Way.

Any boat that can maintain 5 knots is eligible to enter. Boat owners can register until Friday evening. The entry fee is $50 for individuals, $80 for groups, $100 for office parties and $200 for businesses. Information: (310) 821-7614.

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WIN, PLACE AND SHOW: Look no further for the most livable part of Los Angeles County. You're already there.

At least that's what Los Angeles magazine concluded in a survey contained in the current issue. The Westside won the trifecta when the mag rated Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica as the top three places to live out of 20 communities ranked.

The ratings were based on criteria ranging from education and air quality to restaurants and convenience.

Hancock Park and West Hollywood, also Westside territory, were fifth and sixth, respectively. (Manhattan Beach, in fourth place, kept the Westside from a clean sweep of the top six.)

After that, our fair Westside cities didn't fare so well.

Brentwood trailed in 11th place, its attractive neighborhoods eclipsed in the survey by lack of convenient shopping and cultural activities. Venice, which has been beset by crime problems, limped in at 16th place.

Still, somewhat surprisingly, Venice beat out Malibu, which wound up rated 17th, followed by Hollywood.

It seems Malibu lost points for being inconvenient and lacking first-rate restaurants, arts and entertainment, and a medical facility.

*

HIP HOP: Back by popular demand, UCLA Extension is offering a "Pet Rabbit Care" class in its winter catalogue for the third year in a row.

The popular course is taught by Frank Lavac, a veterinarian at Wilshire Animal Hospital in Santa Monica, who says he now has 753 current rabbit clients.

"I have a lot of customers with pet rabbits and there's not a lot of information out there about how to take care of them," he said, noting that rabbits are his fourth-largest clientele after dogs, cats and birds. "Rabbits are becoming more popular pets -- they're clean, quiet, have distinct personalities and are very interactive."

Lavac's class will focus on basic care, behavior, and the prevention and treatment of typical medical problems such as broken toenails, respiratory problems and diarrhea.

In his course, Lavac also recommends "The House Rabbit Handbook," a popular tome with chapters on how to bunny-proof your house, set up outdoor playpens, toilet train, travel and mix rabbits with other pets.

"People really fall in love with them . . . and with proper diets and medical care some rabbits can live as long as 10 years," he said.

Somewhere, Bugs is smiling.

With divided political alliances hopelessly deadlocked, the Santa Monica City Council was unable this week to elect a new mayor from within its ranks.

The council, with three newly inaugurated members, tried repeatedly to elect a mayor Tuesday, but none of the council members could garner the necessary four votes to win the largely ceremonial position.

After about 45 minutes of fast-paced voting on a mix of candidates, it became clear that no member would be elected, nor was any pair of council members acceptable to the full council to split the two-year term. The only agreement the council was able to reach was to table the election until next Tuesday.

The deadlock resulted in the first time in the city's 119-year history that a council failed to elect a mayor, although in recent years the council has found it necessary or preferable to divide the term between two members.

When an impasse appeared likely in the days before the vote, the city attorney's office reviewed the City Charter and determined that Judy Abdo should continue as mayor until another council member wins the post.

For several years, the council has been split between the entrenched Santa Monicans for Renters Rights and the Coalition for a Safe Santa Monica.

This year, although the renters rights group controls four seats on the seven-member council, the votes for mayor were divided between council members Paul Rosenstein and Ken Genser.

The Coalition for a Safe Santa Monica supports only three council members -- Robert Holbrook, Asha Greenberg and Ruth Ebner -- and has not been able to muster a vote from a council member backed by the renters group to elect one of them mayor.

The council made more than a dozen nominations, trying to mix and match candidates to split the two-year term. But in no instance could Genser win more than two votes to serve two years as mayor, nor would he cast the necessary fourth vote for Rosenstein to win a two-year term.

Admitting to be the spoiler to a Rosenstein win, Genser said later that he would only vote for Rosenstein if the two-year mayoral term was split between the two of them.

In the days leading up to Tuesday's vote, some council members were actively negotiating to see who would wield the mayor's gavel.

Holbrook, who was the top vote-getter Nov. 8 and a senior member of the coalition, said he had received several calls from mayoral hopefuls Genser and Rosenstein. Although they wanted his help in winning the election, Holbrook said, they were not able to make any concessions to the coalition "because SMRR would be upset," he said.

Holbrook said that if the council refused to back him for a full term as mayor, he would be willing to split the term with Rosenstein. The compromise between the renters group and the coalition might garner four votes -- if Rosenstein would agree, Holbrook said.

Rosenstein, though, said he was not willing to split a term. He said that if he agreed to cast his vote for Holbrook to serve as mayor for one year it would adversely affect his already tenuous relationship with the renters group.

"It's not worth it to be mayor . . . to cast my lot with another camp," he said.

What was once a neighborhood controversy over the popular nightspot House of Blues is now fueling a political fight in West Hollywood City Hall.

Neighbors have bitterly complained of traffic, noise and parking problems at the Sunset Boulevard nightclub and restaurant since it opened in May. Last week, West Hollywood City Manager Paul Brotzman took the unusual step of publicly defending his staff's response to the complaints before a crowded and testy meeting of the Planning Commission, which is now threatening to hold hearings on revoking the club's permit.

This week, the issue sparked a political battle when freshman City Councilman Steve Martin accused Mayor Abbe Land of a conflict of interest on the issue because she accepted almost $13,000 in cash and in-kind contributions from House of Blues and its construction manager during her unsuccessful bid last spring for state Assembly.

Martin suggested that had it not been for such donations, the city might have been more responsive to neighborhood complaints about the nightclub.

"There is the absolute appearance of a conflict of interest here," Martin said. "It's very difficult to believe that these contributions did not impact the city's deliberations on House of Blues."

Land confirmed that her campaign received the donations but denied any favoritism for House of Blues. "I don't see it as a conflict of interest, given that I reported everything (on campaign disclosure forms) and have been quite upfront (that House of Blues must meet all of its permit requirements)," she said.

Martin, elected to the five-member City Council in April, has formed a loose coalition with two other council members, Paul Koretz and Sal Guarriello. The three have often been at odds with Land, who has wielded much influence in the city, along with Councilman John Heilman, a frequent ally.

According to campaign finance records, Land's largest campaign contribution during the reporting period that began Jan. 1 and ended March 17 was a $5,000 donation made Feb. 8 by House of Blues. In May, House of Blues hosted a campaign reception for Land that amounted to an additional in-kind contribution of $5,389.

And Boston-based CT Management Inc., which managed the construction of House of Blues, gave the Land campaign $2,500 last December. The nightclub's developers were thus among Land's biggest backers during the hotly contested 42nd District Assembly primary race.

Land was not the only West Hollywood council member to receive campaign money from House of Blues. The nightspot, founded by restaurateur Isaac Tigrett, gave $3,250 to Paul Koretz, one of Land's opponents in the Assembly primary. Koretz did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The City Council approved the basic plan for House of Blues, a couple of years ago but the club has not yet met all of the conditions for its permanent occupancy permit. Community activists have argued that the city allowed House of Blues to open without sufficient parking, which severely disrupted traffic in the area.

Last week's 4 1/2-hour Planning Commission meeting included testimony by neighbors who blamed House of Blues patrons for a sharp increase in traffic, early morning noise and auto vandalism. The seven commissioners directed pointed questions to Brotzman and House of Blues general manager Steve Strauss about the nightclub's impact on the neighborhood. Brotzman told the commission that the city had underestimated the popularity of House of Blues and was working to correct parking and noise problems.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to resume discussion of problems related to House of Blues on Dec. 15.

Staff writer Nancy Hill-Holtzman contributed to this story.

For more than 15 years, Joyce Chance had been looking for a way to say thanks to UCLA Medical Center for prolonging the life of her 6-year-old son, who died in 1972 of liver cancer. She found the answer while riding on the back of her husband's Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

For the past five years, Chance has been the force behind the annual UCLA Memorial Toy Run, sponsored by the Fullerton chapter of the Harley Owners Group (HOG), of which Chance is a member.

"UCLA gave Johnnie two years I wouldn't have had with him," Chance said. "I saw the HOG doing toy runs for other groups, and I said to myself, 'That's what I can do for UCLA.' "

On Sunday morning, about 90 bikers, many with toys strapped to their Harley-Davidsons, journeyed in a convoy on the Artesia (91) and San Diego (405) freeways from Fullerton and converged on UCLA Medical Center. With more than 60 motorcycles parked in the hospital's outpatient drop-off area and bikers milling about eating doughnuts, the scene could have been a Harley-Davidson rally instead of a toy drive.

But there they were, more than 100 toys piled high on a long table and on the floor underneath. Gifts ranging from teddy bears to Tonka trucks, hand-held electronic games and strollers will be distributed primarily as Christmas and birthday presents to children who are patients at UCLA.

Because most of the children were too sick to leave their beds and see the gifts, a swarm of leather-clad bikers went up to the ward to visit them. As if walking in a parade, the HOG members moved down the corridor, waving and calling out greetings to the children.

The smiles came slowly, although 3-year-old Sierra Penn, who sat in a stroller in the doorway of her room, had no such inhibitions. She blew kisses to the bikers, and even the burliest of the group blew kisses back. "Most of us have kids, so the fatherly and motherly thing comes out," said Jim (Wolfman) Fortier, director of the Fullerton HOG and a Long Beach police sergeant.

One HOG member, with the permission of the nursing staff, brought his Harley-Davidson up to the third floor for show-and-tell. Dwayne Freeman, an 11-year-old patient with his arm linked to a mobile intravenous unit, sat wide-eyed and speechless on the back of the motorcycle as he was rolled down the hall to his hospital room.

The scene left one biker teary-eyed.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," said Joe (Tennessee) Herron, 35, who was sporting a long, bushy beard, leather vest and a handkerchief tied around his head. "Rain or shine, I'd be here."

The Fullerton HOG also donated $450 to UCLA's Child Life Program, which helps young patients accept their illnesses and adjust to being hospitalized. Much of the program, directed by Dr. Judith Golub, is focused on 40% of the children in the hospital -- those who must undergo painful and traumatic procedures such as bone marrow aspirations, transplants and chemotherapy.

Golub praised Chance's initiative in helping to make the young patients more comfortable.

"Although many of our families do want to give something back to the hospital, not many of them have the determination that Joyce has shown in getting this together," said Golub, who also directs a special program for the 45 families whose children are patients with AIDS.

Chance, a soft-spoken housewife, said the toy run is something that her son, like most children, would have enjoyed. Johnnie was found to have Wilms' tumors when he was 4, and was operated on several times at UCLA between 1971 and 1972. He spent up to five consecutive days hospitalized during his chemotherapy treatments.

The hospital did what it could to make the situation pleasant, Chance said.

"They used to have something like a picnic every Wednesday for the children, with clowns and games," she said. "For the kids who were bedridden, they would even wheel down the beds."

But the sadness she felt in those days about her son's illness is still vivid and painful, Chance said.

"I can't go inside," she said, standing on the sidewalk outside the hospital. "I tried it last year, thinking I would be OK, then all of the memories come rushing back. But I don't need to do that. What I'm doing outside here -- it's enough."

The Venice Arts Mecca, a nonprofit community arts group that offers free workshops to low-income Venice youths, plans to exhibit participants' work on Saturday.

The show, "Venice Through Our Eyes," will feature the work of artists ages 6 to 22 who, under the guidance of local artists, have produced paintings, drawings, collage, black-and-white photographs and ceramic pieces.

The exhibit will include a buffet and music by local jazz vocalist Dante Chambers, among others. It will be from 6 to 9 p.m. at 200 Westminster Ave. Visitors are asked to make a $10 donation at the door.

Despite opposition from some residents, housing advocates are welcoming a series of favorable rulings by Los Angeles zoning administrators regarding construction of a 25-unit apartment building for low-income families in Oakwood.

The proposed development at 325 4th Ave., which will include one- to four-bedroom units with a maximum monthly rent of $569, would include a community garden, a barbecue area with picnic tables, a recreation room and a basketball and recycling area.

"It will be a real asset to the community, well-designed with lots of open space and recreation areas for kids and adults," said Steve Clare, executive director of the Venice Community Housing Corp., a nonprofit builder of affordable housing on the Westside that hopes to construct the project.

Some neighborhood homeowners and landlords who are opposed to the project, called the Fourth Avenue Apartments, are concerned about what they say would be the detrimental effect of another low-income housing development in Venice. They point to crime and other problems that have plagued 14 federally subsidized apartment buildings in the area, known as Holiday Venice.

"The group of people building this are well-intentioned do-gooders who are naive about the perils of renting to low-income people," said Peter Nott, a property owner in Oakwood for 17 years and a board member of the Oakwood Property Owners Assn. "These buildings attract a criminal and hard-core gang element who hang out in the property and sell drugs. . . . A bit of green grass and a recreation room is not going to solve the problem."

The developers say their proposal differs markedly from the area's public housing projects because its design is geared toward the working poor. Tenants' work histories and income levels will be scrutinized, the management company will be on site and the housing corporation's board will be made up of people who live in the community, the developers said.

"Multifamily housing often has problems with absentee landlords who don't care about the community," said David Kramer, the housing corporation's director. "But that's not the case because our community-based board will ensure this project is an asset to the neighborhood."

The housing corporation also plans to set up a job-training program for the area's youth to work on the development. Clare also said he will require the building's contractors to employ a significant number of skilled construction workers who live in Venice.

Advocates of the $3.4-million project, which will be funded through a mixture of city housing department grants, tax credits and bank loans, say critics should look at the housing corporation's other affordable housing developments in Venice -- one each on Navy Street and Brooks Avenue and a 32-bed women's shelter on Westminster Avenue.

The corporation's other projects "are running according to the way they said they were going to run, and I'm very confident they're going to do a good job," said Ivonne Guzman, a 30-year resident of Oakwood.

The proposal is expected to go before the City Council for approval early next year. ADRIAN MAHER

This African proverb acts as a bookend to "All Power to the People," a showcase of protest posters, graphics, newspapers and government documents produced during the height of the Black Panther Party.

Compiled by the West Los Angeles-based Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the 94-piece exhibition is at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, 6120 S. Vermont Ave., through Jan. 31.

"We can't understand the present if we don't understand history," said Carol Wells, one of the founders of the center and curator of the show. "If we really want to understand history, we have to look at these posters."

The 31-year-old library and the center are nonprofit operations that collect material on social struggles and political movements.

The exhibition, which borrows its name from a 1969 poster by Black Panther artist Emory Douglas, takes the viewer on a historical tour from the beginnings of the party to its triumphant days of political empowerment and its demise through government intervention and intra-party splintering.

"All the issues that the Panthers tried to struggle against -- racism, illiteracy, health care, hunger -- are still issues today that need to be confronted," Wells said. "This is a show of what the Panthers wanted to accomplish and what happened to them. We are providing an introduction of what they were."

Scenes of police brutality and racial violence captured on film or depicted by artists hang side-by-side, testament to the volatility of an era of black political empowerment that followed the 1965 Watts riots.

Part 1 of the series, "A Call to Arms," outlines how the party was modeled after the Community Alert Patrol, a watchdog organization formed to protect black citizens of Watts from unlawful police actions. Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party called on its members to bear weapons for self-defense.

The notorious 1970 poster of Newton in Panther garb, sitting in a peacock chair wielding an African spear in one hand and a machine gun in the other, opens the second series, "Serving the People." Eighteen posters and other media report the party's political ambitions, from free medical health clinics to a grocery giveaway.

Three other sections depict how the party grew and then was dismantled by violence and government subversion. FBI documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act hang as evidence of government action to stymie the party's growth.

"The Struggle Continues," the last portion of the display, brings the party to the present with poster No. 90, "Free Geronimo Pratt." Pratt, who was the party's deputy minister of defense and head of the South-Central chapter, is serving a life sentence in the 1968 killing of a schoolteacher and the wounding of her husband. Pratt has steadfastly maintained that he was elsewhere at the time.

Because the Panthers split in 1970, Wells said, Pratt was forgotten during his trial by infighting party members.

"When we do these (types of) exhibits, we don't expect people to agree. There are different ways in seeing the world," Wells said. "In collecting these posters, we are the historians for the 'lions.' " ENRIQUE LAVIN

Salvador Gonzalez paints at breakneck speed in the middle of the night, specks of bright yellow, red, black and blue flying from his brushes onto the huge canvas before him as music by Jean-Michel Jarre blares in the background.

By 6 the next morning, what began as an inspiration at the back space of Venice's Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) has become a bigger-than-life mural dominated by Yemaya, the Afro-Cuban goddess of the salt waters and protector of women.

The marathon project late Friday and early Saturday was Gonzalez's way of leaving his mark in Los Angeles during his first U.S. visit. In doing so, the Cuban muralist worked in typical fashion: alone, without sketches or drafts. The result was an 6-by-20-foot canvas that the center plans to hang in locations that have yet to be determined.

"We are just delighted he could paint this mural," said Gail Schwartz, the program director for the center, which donated the paint, canvas and space for the project. Gonzalez "is basically single-handedly creating the Cuban mural movement."

It is a task the 46-year-old, internationally known artist has taken to heart. Gonzalez has painted many murals on the walls of buildings in downtown Havana. Although he is critical of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, he says he mainly addresses cultural and religious themes in his work.

"All my work is inspired by the values of ancient cultures," said the painter, who although he is half white belongs to the Afro-Cuban Yoruba religion. "Many artists re-create Hispanic cultures, but black culture has been historically disputed. I'm interested in promoting these values that are part of my people's culture."

So far, Gonzalez has left images of his culture on walls in New York, Arizona and New Mexico, and plans to paint murals in New Jersey and Washington as part of his three-month U.S. tour.

"This is a great country, where many cultures converge and where each place signifies a new experience," he said. "It's a dream come true for me to be here."

Cuba, however, is his place in the world, he said.

Gonzalez said: "I know my country has problems . . . but I'm very much a man of Cuba, even if it's governed by the devil." LEILA COBO-HANLON

Gallery Plus is holding a holiday open house from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday that will feature a special exhibit of memorabilia from the Negro Baseball League of the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

Former players from the league will be on hand to autograph the pictures, postcards and posters that will be displayed and sold.Players from the Kansas City Monarchs, Drummondville Cubs, Indianapolis Clowns, Chicago American Giants, Nashville Elite Giants and Homestead Grays will be on hand for the event.

The Negro League provided a forum for black baseball players who were barred from playing in the majors until 1948. That year Jackie Robinson, one of the Negro League's many stellar players, broke the color barrier.

The gallery is at 4333 Degnan Blvd.

Information: (213) 296-2398.

Police have called for an investigation into the death of a jail inmate who allegedly hanged himself in the cell he shared with another prisoner.

The inmate, identified as Christin Alamira, 26, appeared to have used his T-shirt to suspend himself Sunday from the upper bunk in the two-man cell he shared with an unidentified prisoner in Santa Monica Municipal Jail, police said.

Alamira, described by police as a transient from Mexico who was also known as Alberto Funis and Alfredo Medell, had been arrested Friday night and was awaiting arraignment on charges of selling rock cocaine to an undercover police officer, Santa Monica Police Sgt. Gary Gallinot said.

Although police said they believe Alamira's death was a suicide, they have asked the district attorney's office to investigate because it is unusual for prisoners to commit suicide in the presence of a cellmate, Gallinot said. The Los Angeles County coroner's office will conduct an autopsy, he added. SUSAN STEINBERG

Officials in Malibu, still reeling from mudslides last winter, have learned that the federal government won't fund mudflow cleanups this winter.

The city was notified in a letter from officials at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will not pay for future mud cleanup, even though city hillsides are still unstable, covered only with shallow-rooted vegetation.

Following the Nov. 2 fire last year, soil experts predicted that it would be five to eight years before hillside vegetation grows enough to prevent erosion during rainstorms. In the months after the blaze, heavy rains triggered several mudslides in the city that required about $1.5 million in cleanup work -- 75% of which was paid by the federal government and 25% of which was funded by the state.

"I'm doing a dry dance instead of a rain dance," said John P. Clement, the city's public works director. Laguna Beach and Altadena have also received notice that they should not expect federal mudflow cleanup money next year, Clement said.

"I can't afford rain right now," Clement said. "Where we used to have four or five crews out there cleaning up, now we'll only have one."

Malibu city officials received the bad news in a letter last month. City Manager David N. Carmany said he is working with the office of Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), whose district includes Malibu, to urge FEMA to change its stance. Laguna Beach officials are also taking part in the effort, he said.

Officials from the two agencies met last October to discuss, among other things, flood and erosion projects proposed in Malibu. Sometime during the meeting, FEMA officials said Malibu would be ineligible for federal funds to pay for mud cleanups in the coming year. According to an OES spokesperson, Malibu has not been eligible for such funding since April, the official end of the federally declared "incident period" following last year's Nov. 2 firestorm.

In its letter informing Malibu of FEMA's decision, the state emergency services office made clear that it opposes the move. "Please be assured that we do not concur, and strongly believe that any such mudflows will be a direct result of the fire disaster," the state agency said.

The letter also cast some doubt on whether the city will receive federal funding for part of a $21-million erosion and flood control project planned for Las Flores Canyon to resolve a decades-old flooding and landslide problem.

During their review of Malibu's proposed project, the letter said, federal officials determined that FEMA would not pay for the purchase of nine flood-prone properties in the canyon. The officials did say that if a study of the proposed project "determines that the purchase of the property is required to stabilize the hillside," then FEMA will consider purchasing the properties. KATHLEEN KELLEHER

A new local newspaper, the Culver City Chronicle, distributed its first 26-page issue Nov. 23.

The free weekly is being published by National Media Inc., which runs seven other local papers and distributes more than a quarter of a million copies a week, said Stephen Laxineta, chairman of the company.The Westsider, the West Hollywood Independent and the Hollywood Independent are among newspapers published by National Media.

It took National Media just two weeks to begin delivering the Culver City Chronicle to homes and businesses after the news broke that Coast Media Newspapers -- which had published another free weekly paper, the Culver City News -- had been seized by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS shut down Coast Media because the company failed to pay more than $228,000 in back taxes from 1992.

National Media has its headquarters in the Mid-Wilshire district.

On the heels of the recent opening of a T.J. Maxx discount clothing outlet, anchor stores at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza reported higher sales and increased foot traffic the weekend after Thanksgiving, traditionally the year's biggest weekend for sales.

Marj Aldolph, general manager of Sears, described sales figures as "superb" -- 22% higher than last Thanksgiving weekend.She attributed the success to the store's recent $2.5-million face lift and its proximity to the adjacent T.J. Maxx.

Both Robinsons-May and Broadway reported improved sales over last year, said plaza marketing director Linda Gray.

T.J. Maxx, part of the national retail chain that sells discounted name-brand clothing and other items, opened at the plaza Nov. 15. And foot traffic has been consistently busy since the opening, said store manager Yun Conger.

"We're seeing a steady increase of people in here now," Conger said.

Day manager Yendas Harper said that while foot traffic has indeed been good, it has yet to compare with more established T.J. Maxx locations such as the one at Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance.

The addition of T.J. Maxx, which occupies six upper-level storefronts, boosts mall occupancy from 68% to 85%.

Fred Bruning, vice president of the mall's developer, Alexander Haagen Properties, said holiday sales are already 25% over last year.

The box office is barely the size of a broom closet, the screen curtain is torn and stained, and the battered orange seats make a high school auditorium look fashionable. Even the snack counter sells nothing more exotic than popcorn and Raisinets.

At the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, patrons forsake creature comforts for the sake of cinema.

Probably the foremost theater in Southern California devoted to first-run art films, old-movie revivals and documentaries, the Nuart has carved out its own niche in the annals of theater exhibition. It has given important early bookings to a host of young directors who went on to greater glory -- John Waters, David Lynch and Jane Campion, to name a few.

Waters' "Pink Flamingos" and Lynch's "Eraserhead," two '70s films now considered classics, each received important early exposure at Nuart midnight screenings, which attract a colorful mix of aging hippies, tweedy cineastes , leather-clad punkers and others.

Yet as the Nuart marks its 20th anniversary under the same management, the venerable movie house finds itself at a crossroads.

Landmark Theater Corp., co-founded in 1974 to operate the Nuart, was acquired in 1991 by the Samuel Goldwyn Co., which has since embarked on an aggressive national expansion. Based in West Los Angeles, Landmark now runs 120 screens in 16 cities, employs 1,000 people nationwide and is building new multiscreen theaters in San Francisco, Minneapolis and Boston. The company also operates two other Westside first-run specialty houses, the Pavilion in Rancho Park and the NuWilshire in Santa Monica.

Industry experts say the so-called multiplexes, along with the rise of home video, have gone a long way toward making single-screen theaters like the Nuart all but obsolete. But Landmark insists its 550-seat flagship theater on Santa Monica Boulevard can thrive in the changing marketplace.

"No one builds single-screen theaters anymore," concedes Landmark President Steve Gilula. But, he adds, "the Nuart is a unique institution."

The Nuart owes its singularity, in part, to the rise of independent films in the last decade or so. This has given art cinemas plenty of new movies -- allowing the Nuart, for instance, to offer such sleeper hits as Campion's "Sweetie" and Gus Van Sant's "Drugstore Cowboy."

But at the same time, the availability of old movies on video and cable TV has made it harder for theaters that show classics to attract audiences.

So the Nuart, like a handful of other art theaters nationwide, has survived with a crazy quilt of offerings -- some old movies, some new, some totally obscure. The eclectic mix is reflected in the four-color calendar that the theater publishes every three months, replete with boxes of blurbs and photo cutouts.

The Nuart's programming has slowly evolved since the mid-1970s, when Gilula and partners Gary Meyer and Kim Jorgensen took over the theater and devoted it almost entirely to revivals of old movies. Such theaters were called "grindhouses" because they showed a different double-feature bill every night.

Previously, the Nuart had, like many art cinemas, fallen on hard times. Built during the 1920s, the theater played studio pictures that had just finished six or eight weeks in the plush movie palaces along Hollywood Boulevard. Then, during the '50s and '60s, the Nuart began riding a wave of high-brow foreign films by Ingmar Bergman and others.

But by the late 1960s, U.S. studios had begun making bolder, more artistically challenging pictures that competed favorably with the foreign films. Movies such as "Midnight Cowboy" and "The Godfather" sold out at neighborhood theaters that were previously not known for showing cutting-edge cinema.

The Nuart and many other art cinemas survived by showing racy potboilers and, later, soft-core pornography.

"If you're a theater operator, you've got to keep the doors open," Meyer said. "They found out sex was selling and subtitles weren't."

Gilula, now 44, and Meyer, 46, were both fresh out of college when they met in the film-buying department at United Artists Theaters in San Francisco during the early 1970s. After a brief period working for a small film company, Gilula in 1974 teamed up with Jorgensen to run the Nuart. Meyer became involved in programming the UC Theater in Berkeley, which was another early Landmark property.

Meyer handled film bookings from his native San Francisco as Gilula managed Landmark's growth from Los Angeles. During the mid-1970s, the chain more than doubled its number of screens (from four to 10), using internal cash flow and financing from a concessionaire. In the early 1980s, Landmark -- so named because many of its theaters were in historic buildings -- merged with Movie Inc., a New Mexico-based exhibitor that ran about 13 single-screen theaters in the Southwest.

Even as the company grew, Gilula kept the atmosphere relaxed.

"No one in our office wears a suit and a tie," he said. "We're high-energy and intense but very casual about the environment."

Meyer spent much of his time screening new movies and traveling to film festivals. But he and the other principals realized that a slate of old movies wasn't enough for a single screen like the Nuart. They needed a gimmick. So, in addition to reviving movies ranging from "Casablanca" to "A Clockwork Orange," the Nuart -- like some other art theaters around the country -- began offering midnight screenings of fringe cinema, including films by Waters, Lynch and others.

Soon midnight movies became a cultural phenomenon from coast to coast. Fans of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" packed screenings at which they sang, danced and wore outrageous costumes inspired by the comic musical. The events became more live theater than cinema -- and remain so to this day.

"It was an occasion for the audience to identify itself, to cluster around a particular movie," said Jim Hoberman, film critic of the Village Voice and co-author of the book "Midnight Movies."

"Often these were films regarded as outre , and in midnight screenings they could be released without the typical procedures of reviews and conventional release patterns," Hoberman said. "The films could catch on and be an in-group kind of thing."

Theaters in New York were the first to show Waters' "Pink Flamingos" and Lynch's "Eraserhead," but both directors credit the Nuart for giving their careers an early boost in the film capital of the world.

"The Nuart ran 'Pink Flamingos' for 10 years, for heaven's sake. Talk about good legs," Waters said in a telephone interview. "It's still a theater (where) I go to to see a film. . . . It always had the films that took the most chances."

Sometimes these runs led to special relationships between certain directors and the Nuart. For instance, Waters made a short film for the Nuart about 10 years ago that was soon picked up by other theaters nationwide. The film showed the director smoking a cigarette and reminding audiences that the law prohibited smoking in a public theater.

"But don't you wish you had a cigarette now?" Waters asked viewers. "Go ahead and smoke. It gives ushers jobs."

By then, many viewers had begun watching old movies on VCR and cable and stopped going to revival houses. Over the past dozen years, the number of Landmark screens devoted solely to old movies has dwindled, from almost two dozen to about four or five.

Meyer and Gilula (Jorgensen left the company in 1982) began mixing more first-run foreign and independent movies into the Nuart's revival programming. They scored some big successes with Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire" and the director's cut of "Blade Runner," among others.

The merger with Goldwyn three years ago benefited both parties. To expand, Landmark needed capital that could be provided by a large, publicly traded company. Goldwyn, meanwhile, was interested in acquiring the theater chain to help diversify its holdings beyond TV, and movie production and distribution.

Meyer Gottlieb, president and chief operating officer of the Samuel Goldwyn Co., said that the audience for specialized movies such as those shown at the Nuart is the fastest-growing segment of the market, accounting for almost 20% of the $5-billion annual box office ticket sales in the United States.

Goldwyn has so far resisted the temptation to turn the Nuart into a reconstituted movie palace. Unlike the El Capitan or Chinese theaters in Hollywood, the Nuart has no grand rococo details or stately lobbies. Instead of classical or easy-listening music before the feature, the speakers pipe out be-bop jazz.

But Nuart patrons come for the movies, not the ambience.

"It's certainly not the most comfortable theater in the world, but that's a small price to pay for what they show," said Jonathan Benair, a Los Angeles screenwriter who has frequented the Nuart for years. Meyer said that Landmark prefers to spend money on upgrading sound and projection equipment rather than interior design, but he added that a new curtain is on order.

The theater's main marketing tool remains the calendar, which is distributed in the lobby and at area coffeehouses and bookstores. The current issue advertises a December run of "Red," the final segment in a trilogy by Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, and a special series of old noir films in February. And there's a Betty Page look-alike contest on Jan. 6, at a midnight screening of some rare burlesque reels featuring the famous '40s and '50s pinup.

The eclectic approach has captured a broad cross-section of film-goers. Benair said he often sees the seats fill up with hard-core movie buffs he calls "film geeks." But he said the theater also attracts large numbers of teen-age punks, college kids, music fans, and gays and lesbians, many of whom are drawn by special series.

Despite the theater's obvious following, though, some wonder how much longer the Nuart and other single-screen theaters can survive.

Single screens "are the dinosaurs of exhibition," said Bob Laemmle, owner of the Laemmle Theatres, a chain that competes with Landmark for bookings and viewers. Two years ago, Laemmle opened the Sunset 5, an art cinema multiplex in West Hollywood that has successfully combined first-run art movies at night and classic revivals on weekend mornings.

"You really need to spread costs over a multiple number of screens to continue to function," Laemmle said.

Gilula admits that a multiplex has certain advantages over the Nuart. Meyer, who still does most of the theater's booking, has very little margin of error because a flop movie cannot close before the ending date posted in the calendar. Sometimes distributors want their pictures to have time to develop an audience instead of being locked into a fixed run. Sometimes audiences just aren't interested in certain pictures.

Gilula explained the disappointing results of one special series this year by noting, "I'm not sure people wanted to see films about human rights."

But Gilula says that, despite the odds, the Nuart has stayed profitable and grown into a cultural institution with formidable staying power.

"The theater really has its own reputation," he said. "It provides an outlet for films people could see nowhere else. It's raised the consciousness and broadened the taste of a whole generation of filmgoers."

There it is, listed among the 25 most murderous cities in the United States and next to places whose reputations for violence are known nationwide.

Inglewood.

The inconspicuous South Bay suburb of 112,000 -- better known as the home of the Los Angeles Lakers than as a center of crime -- had the 14th-highest murder rate in the country in 1993 for cities with populations over 100,000, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation report released Sunday.

Gary, Ind., ranks first on the list of 25, with 89.9 murders per 100,000 residents. Oakland comes in at 13th, one notch worse than Inglewood. Detroit is fifth. Los Angeles is last on the list, and notoriously dangerous New York City doesn't even appear.

But Inglewood -- quiet, middle-class Inglewood -- sits smack in the middle with a rate of 39 murders for every 100,000 people.

If the statistics aren't exactly what Inglewood Police Chief Oliver Thompson wanted to hear, neither do they come as any great surprise.

"The fact is that people kill people in this town," Thompson said. "But I live in this city, and I think the city is a very safe place. I don't make too much of statistics, whether they're good or bad."

Indeed, the figures in the FBI's annual report, called Crime in the United States, could be broken down in a variety of ways, and adjusting the parameters slightly can drastically change the outcome.

Nearby Compton, for example, does not make the publicized top 25 list because it has 96,500 residents, just missing the 100,000 population cutoff. Had it been factored in, Compton would be fifth on the list, nearly doubling the Inglewood murder rate, with 64.1 murders per 100,000 residents. ERIC SLATER

Talk about fast-moving feet.

This weekend, the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts sponsors "Jazz on Tap," a multi-generational lineup of tap artists performing everything from traditional jazz favorites to trendy hip-hop.

Artistic director and master of ceremonies Cholly Atkins, best known as the creator of Motown-style dancing and as half of the tap duo Coles & Atkins, has brought together a talented group of dancers. Scheduled to appear tonight through Saturday at the Wadsworth Theater are Dianne Walker, LaVaughn Robinson, Fred Strickler, Van Porter, Germaine Ingram, Wayne Doba and the Nicholas Sisters, granddaughters of the famed Nicholas Brothers.

"It's really getting to see tap-dancing at its best," said Strickler, a 51-year-old Riverside resident and longtime tap performer. There is a "wonderful, friendly one-upmanship" among the performers, Strickler said.

The performances will feature virtuoso tap-dancing, jazz music, popular show tunes and vintage film clips. Tappers perform class acts, funk, hip-hop, jazz and comic pieces accompanied by a local jazz trio. Some performers dance alone; others perform in duos, trios and with full ensembles.

Known for using their feet as percussive instruments, tappers are musicians as well as dancers. The toes tap the melody and the heels play the bass.

"Jazz on Tap" celebrates a legendary art form that has been nearly lost. Tap-dancing reached its height of popularity on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood musicals more than six decades ago. The uniquely American art form suffered a decline between the mid-1940s and the late 1960s, when television and rock music came onto the scene.

Recently, however, tap-dancing's popularity has experienced a resurgence of sorts as young artists attempt to carry on the tap heritage and forge new styles that are hip to today's music.

"Tap artists are pushing (the craft) forward with new things like hip-hop," said Strickler, who began dancing professionally at age 19. "This (show) is a celebration of dancing and the human spirit."

"Jazz on Tap," Wadsworth Theater, Wilshire and Sawtelle boulevards, Westwood, 8 tonight through Saturday. All shows feature a pre-performance discussion at 7 p.m. with Dave Gere, faculty member of the UCLA Dance Department. Tickets are $28, $25 and $9 for students. Reservations and information: (310) 825-2101. CHRISTINA V. GODBEY

Louise Yarnell's depiction of the world of the '64 Free Speech Movement (UC Berkeley Activists of '64 Return to Takeover Site," Dec. 4) as one where even the slightest hint of nonconformity could bring taunts of "Commie" or "Red" is unmitigated hogwash. Certainly those nonconformists who actually endorsed Communism and socialism as the wave of the future earned those comments.But there were many different forms of nonconformity in those days and the catcalls Yarnell describes were generally reserved for those who deserved them.

Amusingly, the nonconformists did change much of the way today's America views society. Among other things, it's hard to stand out as a nonconformist in today's immediate world where -- as Democrat Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan points out -- we have defined "deviancy down."

And certainly it is wondrous, indeed, to watch the tenured professors who led the countrywide "Free Speech" Movement impose, in today's world, the most restrictive and stifling of speech codes on our university campuses in the name of "political correctness." But then the legacy of Mario Savio and his followers is historically one of evolving hypocrisy -- Yarnell's somewhat romanticized vision notwithstanding. These are the same folks, mind you, who accuse conservatives of living in the past while they celebrate what looks increasingly like lifetimes of adolescent self-indulgence misrepresented as "protest" and "activism."

KIP DELLINGER

Santa Monica

REVOLVING DOOR

The merry-go-round for football coaches at Playa del Rey St. Bernard took another spin Monday.

Bob Yarnall, the school's longtime baseball coach who became football coach on an interim basis, resigned Monday. Yarnall served as co-coach with Tom Burgess after Mike Noonan resigned three days before the start of the season. Burgess also has decided not to return. The pair led the Vikings to a 5-5 record.

"I'm not going to be back," Yarnall said. "I enjoyed it, but I'm going to stick to baseball. To me, football is just a brute-strength sport. Baseball is more of a finesse game. Besides, I have more knowledge of baseball than football."

The Vikings will be looking for their fourth coach in four years. Tom Strickland resigned one month before the start of the 1993 season and was replaced by Noonan. Yarnall said 15 people have applied for the position, including defensive coordinator James Swain and offensive coordinator Kevin Crawley. Crawley is a former head coach at Gardena Serra.

A new coach is expected to be announced before Christmas vacation. FINAL FOUR

After two dramatic comeback victories, UCLA has qualified for the NCAA semifinals in soccer and will play top-ranked Indiana on Friday at University of Davidson in North Carolina.

The Bruins (18-4) came back from a one-goal deficit to beat Charleston, 3-2, Sunday in the quarterfinals. UCLA led, 1-0, early in the second half, but Charleston scored two quick goals after goalkeeper Chris Snitko and fullback Frankie Hejduk received red cards and were ejected from the game. Snitko and Hejduk must sit out the semifinal game.

Despite playing with only nine men, the Bruins came back when midfielder Eddie Lewis headed an Ante Razov free kick in the net at 80:51. Greg Vanney scored the game-winner nine minutes later. Vanney also scored the winning goal in a dramatic 4-2 victory over Southern Methodist on Nov. 27.

UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid is one win away from his 250th career victory. SHIRTS AND SKINS

Westchester will play host to Inglewood on Friday at 7 p.m. in one of the biggest high school boys' basketball games of the year.

The game pits Inglewood forward Paul Pierce against the Comets' talented guards Danny Walker and Ben Sanders.

Weschester Coach Ed Azzam complains his team "has nothing to wear" for the big event.

Honest.

"We don't have any (home) uniforms," Azzam said. "We ordered uniforms from a new sporting goods store, but the shipment has not arrived yet. The way they talk, I don't expect to get them before the end of the season."

Last week, Westchester wore its away uniforms in the Comets' 67-56 season-opening victory over Washington at Washington. The Comets have not played since then.

To say Azzam is upset would be an understatement.

"There are probably another 20 schools in the same boat," he said.

In their season opener, Sanders scored 17 of his 23 game-high points in the second half. Tarik Bragg, who had 12 points, and Jarvis Young, who had 11, were the only other Comets in double figures. KEEPING QUIET

The way Jeff Porter tells it, the Brentwood girls' volleyball team didn't really need his coaching to win its second consecutive State Division V championship. But don't believe it.

"This was the first team I have ever had that did not need a whole lot of coaching," said Porter, who is in his 18th season as Eagles coach. "We had talent, we had experience and a real good knowledge of strategies."

Granted, the Eagles had some outstanding players. Sarah Neal has great touch for a setter. Kelly Gentile is one of the Westside's most powerful hitters. Erin Hawkins, Katherine Kuchenbecker and Karin Friederic also are talented, well-disciplined hitters.

Neal and Gentile were selected co-players of the year in Southern Section Division V. Hawkins also was named to the first team, while Kuchenbecker was picked to the second team.

Their talent was evident in a decisive 15-8, 15-5, 16-14 victory over Oakland College Prep in the state final Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

But it took coaching for the Eagles to accumulate an impressive two-year mark of 49-2. They have won 13 Delphic League titles, including seven in a row under Porter.

The Eagles may have had the athletic ability to win, but it was Porter who inspired the team to play their best. REBUILDING?

Take away St. Bernard's twin towers and the Vikings will become an average girls' basketball team.

Wishful thinking.

The Vikings still have a winning program despite 6-3 forward Olympia Scott and 6-4 Marte Alexander taking their games to Stanford and Arizona, respectively.

They may be smaller, but not considerably weaker.

St. Bernard beat Banning, 58-45, Saturday in the final of the South Torrance Tournament, completing a 4-0 tournament. The Vikings beat highly regarded Carson, 62-39, Friday in the semifinals.

"We're better than people think," said St. Bernard Coach Lori Pawinski, who has guided the Vikings to two consecutive State Division IV titles. "We're a lot faster and we shoot well from the perimeter."

The Vikings were led in the South Torrance Tournament by returning point guard Tracie Oaks, who averaged 20 points and seven assists in the four games. Small forward Nicole Monette averaged 15 points and three three-pointers a game.

"We may be young, but we can play," Pawinski said. TOURNAMENT TIME

Fresh from an encouraging fourth-place finish in the Las Vegas Invitational, West Los Angeles College's basketball team will play tournament host Cuesta College in the Mid-State Classic in San Luis Obispo.

Last week, the Oilers (2-5) lost to the Cal Lutheran junior varsity before playing three games in Las Vegas.

"It's tough for us to play four straight games, especially since we were not at full strength," West L.A. Coach Charlie Sands said. "We could have won every game. We're just so small and it affects our rebounding, especially on offense. It was quite a challenge."

Rod Tennell, West L.A.'s returning all-Western State Conference player, had 56 points and 28 rebounds during the four games. He was selected to the all-tournament team. NOTABLE

* St. Monica linebacker Mike Bailey led the entire Southern Section with 191 total tackles according to a Southern Section press release. Bailey had 40 more tackles than Nordhoff's Russell Farrar, son of Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar. St. Monica quarterback Steve Pulley was ninth in the Southern Section passing yardage and St. Monica's Dwight Carter ranked 14th in receiving with 49 catches.

* In water polo, Tim Lahey of Santa Monica was selected to the Southern Section Division III first team, and teammate D.J. Davis was named to the third team. Josh Watts of Malibu was selected to the Division IV third team, becoming the first All-Southern Section pick from the new school.

* In girls' volleyball, Lauren Armistead of Marymount, and Kim Adams of Notre Dame Academy were named to the Division II first team. Lisa Sweeney of Notre Dame Academy and Amanda Wells of Marlborough were second-team choices.

Jessica Papell of Windward was named volleyball player of the year and Gale Holmes of Windward was selected coach of the year in Division VI. Kearney Visser of Windward also made the first team, while teammate Julie Speyer was selected to the second team. SEAN WATERS

In the midst of mounting allegations of discrimination and sexism in the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Mayor Richard Riordan has nominated an African American businessman to a vacant seat on the Fire Commission.

The mayor's office said Wednesday that his choice of Kenneth T. Lombard, who now sits on the Metropolitan Water District board, was based on Lombard's qualifications for the post and was not made in response to calls for a black on the commission that oversees the Fire Department.

Lombard said the mayor had first approached him about filling an upcoming vacancy on the Fire Commission several weeks ago, before the release of a city audit last month detailing the difficulties faced by minorities and women in the department. Most of the top department posts are held by white men.

The Fire Commission has had no black representative since Riordan took over from Tom Bradley in July, 1993, and called for resignations of all commissioners.

The Fire Department, which has denied any wrongdoing, has come under increasing criticism and scrutiny, which was heightened by the release this week of a videotape showing the struggles of women recruits. A divided Fire Commission voted Nov. 23 for an independent review of department hiring and promotion practices, and several City Council members have castigated department leaders.

Lombard, 40, a business partner in basketball great Magic Johnson's bid to bring a movie theater complex to the Crenshaw area, said he wants to reserve judgment on the Fire Department until he can review the facts.

A venture capitalist who helped build shopping centers in Watts and other urban areas, Lombard said he met Riordan in a business capacity and later supported Riordan's campaign for mayor.

Lombard said he believes that "having diversity on all the commissions has been a priority" for Riordan and that the issue has come up "in every conversation I've had with the mayor."

The choice was hailed by an official of the Stentorians, an organization of black firefighters that has pushed for African American representation on the commission in the wake of the audit.

"This is an urgent first step the mayor needed to take," said Melanie Lomax, legal counsel for the Stentorians. "When a Fire Department is dominated by white males, it is critical that you have a Fire Commission that represents the community."

Given the mayor's statement last week that ethnicity would not be a factor in the appointment, Lomax said she was "really surprised, but favorably surprised, that Mayor Riordan is taking this step. . . . He indicated he would appoint based on qualifications, and I'm glad he found someone who is African American and meets his standards."

Lomax said she does not know Lombard but added that he has a reputation as "reasonable and a moderate."

If the appointment is confirmed by the City Council, Lombard will replace Michelle Park-Steel, who resigned to accept an appointment to the Airport Commission.

In a related development Wednesday, three former female firefighters at a news conference blasted Fire Chief Donald O. Manning for characterizing the video as a harmless compilation of bloopers.

*

Manning had said their protective garb made it impossible to tell the gender of the recruits in the video. But one of the women, a member of the Fire Academy class featured in the footage, said that she can identify all the recruits who made the mistakes and that all of them are women.

"(The video) documents an assault on a woman's right to work in the Los Angeles Fire Department," said Kay Harter, 22, who quit the academy two weeks before graduation. She said the training exercises "were intended to discourage us from our dreams of becoming firefighters."

Times staff writer Robert J. Lopez contributed to this story.

Closing in on the end of a process that began more than two months ago, the judge and lawyers in the O.J. Simpson murder trial completed their questioning of alternate juror candidates Wednesday and began weeding out the group of panelists who have come this far.

Two prospective alternate jurors were allowed to leave, and then Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito huddled with the attorneys in a long, private conference. After conferring for more than an hour, Ito told most of the 54 remaining jurors and alternate jury candidates that they could go home for the day and return this morning.

"The issues that have come up, and I have to deal with, are relatively complex," Ito said. "I anticipate that I will spend the rest of the afternoon dealing with them."

Ito did not specify what the issues were, but a source close to the case said they were related to allegations that at least one member of the jury panel may have been guilty of misconduct -- a broad charge that can include anything from improper contact with attorneys to inadvertent exposure to publicity involving the case.

Although Ito closed his courtroom for the hearing and excused most of the panel for the day, he did ask five panelists to remain. The five included three members of the jury itself and two prospective alternates.

By the end of the day, both of those potential alternates were excused as well, emerging from the secretive hearing with little comment on what had transpired. That left a pool of 40 under consideration for possible service.

The unanticipated hearing ground the process to a halt, as surprise developments have done time and again since jury selection began Sept. 26. Because of the latest glitch, the two sides failed to settle on a dozen alternate jurors who will be called into action if any of the panel's original 12 members are excused between now and the end of the trial, in which the football Hall of Famer is charged with killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman. Simpson has pleaded not guilty.

Ito and the attorneys will return to court this morning in the hope of concluding jury selection, which Ito has called the most difficult and delicate task confronting him as he oversees the trial.

If they can finish that this morning, the judge and lawyers will move to consideration of several legal issues, one of which could alter the composition of the jury panel almost as soon as it is seated. Ito has scheduled a hearing for today to consider possible juror misconduct, apparently a continuation of the session that he began Wednesday afternoon.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia Clark said in court earlier this week that "we may be losing someone from our panel of 12."

Although both sides have long feared that some panelists would be lost by the time the case is over, few had expected the attrition to begin so soon.

Even before the two sides could begin exercising their peremptory challenges for alternate jury candidates Wednesday, several panelists asked to be excused. One prospective alternate announced that she had written to the judge to explain why she should not remain on the case.

That woman, a 53-year-old telephone company employee from Compton, was one of the five panelists asked to stay after the rest of the group had been allowed to go home for the day. She ultimately was excused, declining to comment in de