LOS ANGELES -- Writer Candace Bushnell of "Sex and the City" fame is developing an hourlong series for NBC about the familiar topic of women in New York, the network said Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- With its country twang intact, the CMA Awards held its first shindig in New York Tuesday night, with Madison Square Garden transformed into the Grand Ole Opry with rootsy performances by Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts.

The Napa High School Marching Band, directed by Harry Cadelago and led by drum major Jack Ramey, will make its traditional march indoors this Thursday at the annual fall concert, which will also feature the Napa High orchestra and jazz band. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the District Auditorium, 2425 Jefferson St. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by calling the music office at 253-3705.

ODC Dance returns to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Nov. 25 through Dec. 4 to perform its 19th annual holiday production of Margery Williams' classic children's tale, "The Velveteen Rabbit," in two enchanting acts.

Bring your dancing shoes when the Bay Area's preeminent swing band, Swing Fever performs their swinging sounds at the Napa Valley Opera House, Friday at 8 p.m. in the Cafe Theatre. Free swing lessons begin at 7 p.m. in the Cafe Theatre. Swing Fever plays it, as jazz critic Phil Elwood once said, as though the numbers are "on today's Hit Parade."

Solano College Theatre continues its exciting 2005-06 season with the thriller "Wait Until Dark" directed by Hector Correa, which opened Nov. 9.

It's been 10 months since music fans had to be turned away from downtown Napa's premier music spot, DG's, for an opportunity to hear the music of jazz master Stan Getz.

Art exhibits run a wide, and often eclectic, range of creative endeavors produced by some of the more imaginative members of society. Important exhibitions often deal with topics ranging from the serious to the mundane, whose message leaves viewers pondering their relationship to the art. They inspire us by giving us insight into how others view our existence, and if we're lucky, we come away a tiny bit enlightened by what we've experienced.

Sacramento-area students facing Hamlet's soliloquy or a Shakespeare sonnet, don't despair -- help is on the way through a new agreement between the Globe Theatre of London and the University of California, Davis.

When the executive director of the University of the Pacific's Brubeck Institute told an eager crowd at Copia last Saturday night we'd be listening to five of the most talented musicians in the nation any minute, he wasn't just whistlin' "Dixie."

From Register Staff

For some it's the anti-Nutcracker; for others it's one gifted dancer's spirited take on a holiday tradition. Either way, it's "The Hard Nut," the Mark Morris Dance Group's unique and joyful interpretation of the Nutcracker ballet, which they'll perform Dec. 9-18 in Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.

The reigning patriarch of a whole generation of jazz, Ellis Marsalis, performs with his Quartet at the Napa Valley Opera House, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. Marsalis will be joined by son Jason on drums, Derek Douget on saxophone and Bill Huntington on bass.

The Napa Valley Symphony presents its 2005 Holiday Concert with the Voices of London on Dec, 4, at 3 p.m. at the newly refurbished Lincoln Theater in Yountville. The program includes selections from Handel's "Messiah," "Los Reyes Siguen l'Estrella," "Nio Dios d'Amor Herido," and "Todo Quanto Pudo Dar" by Guerrero, followed by Bennett's "Five Carols" and Rutter's "Sans Day Carol" and "Noel Nouvelet."

The valley's Improvisator David Auerbach will launch the 20th season of Carols in the Caves and the first Drums of Peace Dec. 3.

The eyes have it in this show. Whether it's the Flattened Musk Turtle, the Florida Key Deer or the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle, they are all looking into a camera with an unwavering, penetrating gaze that seems -- at least to this writer -- to be asking, "What are you doing?"

On the march

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has received a Cambodian passport after being made a citizen of the impoverished Southeast Asian country, an associate said Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- The Ted Koppel era on ABC's "Nightline" ends with his farewell Tuesday night after 25 years of offering a serious alternative to late-night laughs.

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A VOENA CHRISTMAS -- VOENA, Voices of Eve 'N Angels, is the internationally acclaimed, multi-ethnic children's choir that combines inventive a cappella vocal arrangements with percussion, dance and theatrical elements. A joy for the eyes, ears and heart, and one you won't want to miss. Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. at Copia. $25 general/$22.50 member. Info, 259-1600.

Education

Is there a difference between stuffing and dressing? This recipe for a tasty sourdough, pears and sausage accompaniment bakes in a baking dish rather than being stuffed inside the Thanksgiving turkey -- but what you call it depends more on where you live than how the dish is prepared.

Holiday in Carneros

WILTON, Conn. -- It seems like it was just yesterday, but here we go again. This is that mouthwatering time of the year when the holidays line up, and the urge to bake grabs hold.

Turkey Toolbox

Jeff Morgan hopes that many Americans will "think pink" and "drink pink" this Thanksgiving.

CHAVEZ -- To Maria Lopez and Robert Chavez, Nov. 3, 2005, a son, Robert Chavez Jr., 8 lbs, 13 oz.

ANGELES--HERNANDEZ -- Maria Angeles-Sanchez vs. Juan Calderon Hernandez, Nov. 1, 2005

Dearborn-McDonald

Gunby-Vieau