Christmas Gifts

If through happenstance or procrastination you're faced with last-minute Christmas shopping, Culture Monster brings tidings of comfort and joy: You can do it at a museum store, getting a jump start on the peace-on-Earth payoff to this hectic season by enjoying a calming hour or two in the galleries before getting down to the spending at hand. FOR THE RECORD: Museum gift guide: An article in the Dec. 22 Calendar section about gift suggestions from local museum shops identified Cim Castellon as assistant vice president of marketing at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her title is assistant vice president of merchandising.

I don't know about you, but I take those unattended baggage announcements at airports seriously, mostly because I don't want my luggage confiscated or blown up before it gets put on a plane. I came across this "Candid Camera"-like perky video that goes against all we've learned since 9/11 security procedures went into effect: People picking up unattended items that aren't theirs at a baggage carousel. OK, the items are brightly packaged and, like something out of "Alice in Wonderland," say, "Pick me up!"

Santa, as usual, was a no-show at the Men's Central Jail. In his place Sunday came three presumably wise men - Archbishop Jose Gomez, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and Sheriff's Capt. Ralph Ornelas, making their way down long, dimly lit rows of cellblocks to dispense Christmas cheer. At least, as much as was possible in a place where one day is pretty much like the last. "Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!" Gomez proclaimed over and over as he walked down the line of narrow, cramped cells, trailed by volunteer carolers.

Maybe you want to help others. Maybe you long to lend a hand. But you're not sure where and you're not sure how and you don't know who to call. You could ask around. Or you could book a seat on the Do Good Bus. You will pay $25. You will get a box lunch. You will put yourself in the hands of a stranger. When the bus takes off, you will not know where you are going -- only that when you get there, you will be put to work. You find yourself on this weekday afternoon one of an eclectic group, gathered a little shyly on an East Hollywood curb.

An unmanned Russian cargo craft carrying supplies and Christmas gifts for the crew of the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a spokesman said. In addition to 2.8 tons of food, water, books, DVDs and scientific equipment, the ship was taking cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and astronaut William McArthur chocolate, two red holiday caps and other gifts. The ship is expected to dock Friday.

Allowing indigent parents the chance to give their children Christmas presents, the Union Rescue Mission in the skid row area of downtown Los Angeles has set up a "Christmas Store" where parents can pick out three gifts for every child. Since Monday, parents registered with the Union Rescue Mission have been stopping by the makeshift store to find the perfect presents for their children--from Barbie dolls and footballs to toiletries and sweaters.

In past Christmases, Norm and Susan Zareski gave their two teen-age children such normal youth-oriented gifts as sports equipment and records. But this year, wanting their kids to learn about personal finance, they plan to give them shares in a stock and bond mutual fund. "I would like them to become more knowledgeable about personal finance at an earlier age than I was," says Norm Zareski, 49, a computer salesman from Palos Verdes Estates.

Americans will spend $37 billion on Christmas gifts this year, about 4% less than the 1989 holiday season, the Conference Board said today. The typical American family is expected to spend about $325 on Christmas gifts in 1990, down from $335 last year, the research group said. Holiday spending is expected to drop in three of the nation's four major regions. Median family spending in the Northeast is expected to drop the sharpest--7% to $357.

For the holiday gift season, a couple of book recommendations are in order. But first, a caveat is in order. "DUKE ELLINGTON" by James Lincoln Collier (Oxford University Press: $19.95; 340 pages). The Ellington family is up in arms about Collier's book--and with good reason. Written from a muckraking perspective, it is a shot of literary poison squirted in the face of responsible musicology, an insult to the memory of an incomparably gifted black American artist.

At this happy time of the year, when the holiday rush is on, Christmas trees are lit and kitchens are busy--with stoves and ovens in full force--fire accidents have a greater likelihood of occuring. Surveys note that about 65% of home fires are kitchen related. One of the most popular current items, according to Marty Love, cookware buyer for Gelson's Markets, is American Safety Product's Halonite ($29.95 for Model No. 10), a small but sensitive fire extinguisher.

Consumers trying to re-create the classic holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” in which a true (and loaded) lover goes to town buying some very odd gifts, will have to shell out more than they ever have before. Want a partridge in a pear tree along with a menagerie of other fowl? Five gold rings? A battalion of maids, ladies, lords and more? Time to withdraw $25,431.18 from the bank account, according to PNC Wealth Management's 29th  annual survey . That's a 4.8% increase from last season, after a 3.5% increase in 2011 and a 9.2% leap in 2010.

Jimmy Martinez of Moreno Valley huddled in the electronic section of the Toys"R"Us store in Ontario on Friday, looking for a MobiGo for his 4-year-old son. The handheld game console, loaded with educational games, cost $30 -- half off the usual price. Martinez, 23, said his son would be able to use the game to learn and play at the same time. "Everything is all about technology these days," Martinez said. He said he started his shopping at 6:30 a.m. (standing in long lines, he said, is not for him)

More than 100 protesters gathered outside a Wal-Mart in Paramount on Friday morning, carrying U.S. flags, wearing "We are the 99%" T-shirts and toting signs that read, “I want to work full time.” About a dozen Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies looked on as members of the crowd began to chant, “This is what democracy looks like!” Others yelled, “Si se puede.” The protests were part of a larger wave of demonstrations outside Wal-Mart stores across the country, led by the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart, an group pushing for higher wages, better healthcare and more consistent hours at the retail chain.

For the average American, $770 is no small sum. But that's how much they'll each shell out on average for Christmas gifts this year. That's roughly the equivalent of three iPhone 5 smartphones, with tax. Consumers have boosted their holiday spending each year since 2009, when the price tag on Christmas gift-giving plunged to a two-decade low of $616 per person. The $866 figure from 2008 capped a six-year rise, according to an annual poll of more than 1,000 adults by Gallup.

Terrell Owens has never been one to shy away from any kind of attention. Now that he's not getting it on the football field anymore, it's really no surprise he agreed to face three of the four women he's had children with on Tuesday's episode of the "Dr. Phil" show. But even T.O., the attention hound that he is, may have gotten more than he bargained for. None of the three women thinks too highly of Owens -- one of them even called him " evil " -- and they were all happy to share a laundry list of grievances with the father of their children.

Santa, as usual, was a no-show at the Men's Central Jail. In his place Sunday came three presumably wise men - Archbishop Jose Gomez, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and Sheriff's Capt. Ralph Ornelas, making their way down long, dimly lit rows of cellblocks to dispense Christmas cheer. At least, as much as was possible in a place where one day is pretty much like the last. "Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!" Gomez proclaimed over and over as he walked down the line of narrow, cramped cells, trailed by volunteer carolers.

Each December, hordes of determined pilgrims approach the bronze gate leading to the papal apartments hoping to deliver a Christmas present to Pope John Paul II. They don't get past the Swiss Guards. But their gifts--ranging from hand-knitted white socks (the Pope always wears white socks) and Polish Christmas cakes to a ski jacket or the carcass of a freshly killed wild boar--are quickly slipped behind the Vatican walls.

Twenty-seven-year-old Marie Lampone waited patiently as the "Gift Return" line moved slowly toward the clerk. Although the hundreds of shoppers in the Mission Valley Shopping Center pushed their way around her, it didn't matter much to Lampone. She came with a mission in mind. "I'm returning two Rugby shirts because my boyfriend doesn't like them," she said. "He wanted a specific brand.

Christmas morning began early for the Obama family, which is vacationing in a rental home in Kailua, on the east side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The White House said the Obamas exchanged Christmas gifts at 8 a.m. They ate breakfast and sang Christmas carols before leaving for church at a nearby Marine Corps base. Obama wore a navy polo shirt and khakis, while the first lady wore a white dress with an orange band around the waist, according to the media pool report.

The official White House line is that President Obama is delaying his Christmas trip to Hawaii on the off-chance that House Republicans will act on the payroll tax to his liking. But even as his press secretary was saying that during the afternoon briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Obama was unwittingly revealing another possible explanation: he hasn't finished buying his Christmas gifts yet. Yes, after placing a ten-minute call to House Speaker John Boehner over the lunch hour, Obama and his dog Bo hopped into the SUV and went shopping across the river in Alexandria, Va. The big purchases of the day were iTunes gift cards and video games for his daughters at Best Buy -- including the new Just Dance 3 for the White House Wii. So much for surprising Malia and Sasha.