Hundreds of artists from the worlds of dance, music and theater will appear on Zellerbach Hall stage to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Cal Performances on May 12 at 7:30 p.m.

di Rosa Preserve presents MFA works

LOS ANGELES -- Starz Entertainment Group is launching a movie download service that allows consumers to view full-length studio films, concerts and TV shows on portable devices powered by Microsoft Corp. software.

The Napa Valley Opera House will open its 2006 winter/spring season with an exclusive West Coast-production of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters," starring Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, Jan. 12 through 15.

Don't look now but "Follies" is back.

MIAMI -- The International Actor Formation Center Luz Columba is not your ordinary acting school. It grooms aspiring actors specifically for soap operas, and it trains them in Spanish no less.

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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.

Purchasing an entire new wardrobe will be costly, but New Tech High School senior Emily Read is more than anxious to be forced to shell out whatever that will cost her.

The world can be a very weird place. And some of its weirdest aspects are proudly displayed in two recent books.

NEW YORK -- It's time to get it together. It's time to do your family's financial and legal planning.

Size matters at a French village bakery or boulangerie.

Napa Community Adventist Church

Education

Rex Stults takes post with Napa Valley Vintners

Ivo Jeramaz, vice president of vineyards and production at Grgich Hills Cellar, went to his great-uncle, Miljenko ("Mike") Grgich, and told him about a lecture he had attended on biodynamic farming. It was, he told him, like going back to what our grandfathers did, farming without chemicals and pesticides.

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars names Pruss winemaker

PITTSBURGH -- Distinguishing fine wine from plonk is usually left to connoisseurs and winemakers, who rely on their senses, rough chemical measurements and the whims of nature to produce an exceptional tipple.

To us, a wine shop is a playground. We stop at almost every one we see and always enjoy strolling along the aisles. It's fun to see old friends -- "Look, they have a Bully Hill" -- and even more fun to see labels that are new to us. But we understand that many people find wine stores confusing, overwhelming or just plain annoying. All those wines, all those labels, all those neck cards claiming a 90-point rating from someone for just about every wine on the shelf (and often for a different vintage to boot).

If you're feeling under the weather this winter, before you head to your doctor's office, take a trip to your kitchen. When you feel the first signs of a winter-borne bug, a scratchy throat, a runny nose, an achy feeling, Women's Health magazine suggests it's time for some feel-good foods.

CONCORD, N.H. -- Last night I went on a bit of a bender.

Homemade Tortillas

Sonoma's the Girl & the Fig is a major find for frugal diners

Pollo Pulquero

Sopa de Tortilla

Winter storms made a mess in California's wine country, but the rains were not expected to wash out the region's valuable grape crop, officials said.

Europe's third largest bank by assets is working quietly behind the scenes to return a world-renowned Champagne operation to its founders.

Napan John Reaksecker may be a general contractor, but he's really more of a specialist. "About 95 percent of the work I've done has been in Old Town Napa, most within three or four blocks of each other," said Reaksecker, owner of JFR Construction Company. He has renovated about a dozen of his own homes.

The real estate world has long been dominated by full-commission real estate firms. But now, so-called discount brokerages that once offered few services in exchange for reduced fees dangle other money-saving choices to consumers.

We recently were blessed with a beautiful holiday card from one of our dearest old friends "The Queen of Clean," Eugenia Chapman, a housekeeper for more than 35 years. Her card included, as always, her latest cleaning picks and a couple of her famous homespun formulas. We have tested Eugenias formulas and found that as a cleaning lady, she really is the queen.

NEW MARKET, Va. -- Many of the best home gardens are planned around the kitchen table on unhurried winter nights as families gather to page through the seed catalogs arriving now in stacks as deep as snowdrifts.

LAKE LURE, N.C. -- Go ahead and dream. That's what Home and Garden Television's annual Dream Home contest is all about.

Ehdaie -Kelly

Lawrence-Parker

Queen of the Valley

BALLIETT-BALLIETT -- Fargo Balliett III, 57, Paradise, Napa, to Carol Denise Balliett, 56, Paradise, Napa.

BARDESSONO -- Leslie Bardessono vs. Thomas Bardessono, Dec. 16, 2005