To many adults, opera can be daunting.

Video games aren’t a recent phenomenon, with blipping, beeping, joysticking roots stretching back to the days of the cathode ray tube. Today, games reach all walks of life and culture. We carry them in pockets, play them on cell phones, the backs of car seats, on office computers during work hours and yes, still on our televisions at home.

ARLINGTON, Va. — America’s most finicky coffee drinkers tout their caffeine connoisseurship in many, often contradictory, ways. They spend a bundle at Starbucks, or refuse to patronize big chains. They only drink espresso, or decline any cup of joe they didn’t brew themselves.

Each fall young dancers from Sandy Nugent’s Napa Valley Dance Center begin working on holiday routines that they perform at retirement and nursing homes throughout Napa in December.

Imagine capturing light and creating a sculpture of it. That mind-boggling feat is what artist Michael Somoroff achieved in his work “Illumination I.”

The 1806 directive from President Thomas Jefferson sent two young Army captains on a two-year, 6,000 mile journey to explore the new Louisiana Territory.

As a gift to the community to celebrate Justin-Siena High School’s 40th anniversary, on Dec. 7 the school presents a free performance of “Thérèse: The Story of a Soul,” a play written and produced by alumnus Leonardo Defilippis.

Split-second costume changes, live sound effects and side-splitting comedy are on the bill as Napa’s Dreamweavers reopens its intimate Black Box performance space with “A Tuna Christmas,” by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard.

So, you’re not familiar with singer Nnenna Freelon? Well, you ought to be, and if you’re not, you likely will be one day soon. She is exceptional.

What’s A Scottish Christmas? It starts with acclaimed fiddler Bonnie Rideout’s plaintive version of “Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel,” runs through a lively program of Scottish carols, wassail tunes, jigs and reels played by a quintet of outstanding Celtic musicians, features a pair of dynamic Scots dancers, and closes with stirring chorus of Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne.”

Imagine, if you will, an entertainment event where every aspect comes together perfectly, just as the artist intended.

Bid farewell to the frenetic shopping malls of the 21st century and steal away to a bustling Victorian wonderland of holiday merriment and cheer when the Great Dickens Christmas Fair kicks off Friday at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Featuring hundreds of costumed players, winding lanes filled with shops, pubs, delicious fare and colorful characters from literature and history, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a Victorian Christmas Card come to life.

A Bay Area tradition for 30 years, American Conservatory Theater’s “A Christmas Carol” opens Dec. 5 in San Francisco and runs through Dec. 24. 

NEW YORK -- When Gerald M. Boyd was named managing editor of The New York Times, he knew he would set precedents: He was the first black journalist to hold that post, one of the top jobs at one of the world's most distinguished newspapers.

NEW YORK -- Their 60-year collaboration was such that many believed Betty Comden and Adolph Green, whose musicals won five Tony Awards, were married.