Sapphire

On the very first page of "The Kid," we learn Precious has died, leaving behind an orphan 9-year-old son, Abdul. Just like that, Sapphire, whose novel "Push" was adapted into one of 2009's most acclaimed films, "Precious," moves aside her troubled and inspiring creation so that this can be Abdul's story. Told from his point of view, it is a harrowing, sometimes bewildering tale. He didn't fully grasp the severity of his mother's AIDS; he doesn't understand that he no longer has a home.

Some diversions invite comparison more readily than others. Take "The Sapphires," the most chipper film ever set in Vietnam. Already many have taken it, and liked it. If you enjoyed "Strictly Ballroom" or "The Commitments," which is to say if you fell for the slightly pushy charms of those show-business fables (one fantasy Australian, the other Irish, though directed by an Englishman), then chances are you'll go for this true-ish story of an Aborigine singing group entertaining the American troops, enemy fire be damned, in 1968 - like Bob Hope and Raquel Welch, New South Wales division.

The boy brought home a dull-colored half-pound stone he found on the hillside, and his father, Harry Spencer, thought of the perfect place for it. They would use it as a doorstop. The year was 1938, and their home was a modest shack in a sparsely populated, dusty stretch of gem-mining territory in central Queensland, Australia. The stone sat at the backdoor for 10 years, until a jeweler recognized its potential and brought it across the Pacific. In Los Angeles, it was polished to reveal a six-pronged, mesmerizingly beautiful star -- or so goes the story that is passed down about the largest-known star sapphire in the world.

Hours before showtime at UCLA's Royce Hall, Teri Meredyth leaned into a new Steinway & Sons concert grand piano. Behind her, stagehands hammered together a stage extension. In front, workers shoved into place wooden panels for a backdrop. Stage left, an electrician shouted to a colleague aiming spotlights. Meredyth, the hall's longtime piano technician, pounded the keys of the 9-foot-long grand, listening for off-kilter harmonics. She tweaked tuning pins and pricked felt hammers with a needle to soften them and thus warm the tone that would be produced when they hit the strings.

BOOKS Don Lattin The author of "The Harvard Psychedelic Club" presents and signs his lively history of how Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith and Andrew Weil crossed paths in the early '60s at a Harvard-sponsored psychedelic-drug research project. Lattin tracks the resultant launching of a new American culture centered on yoga classes, organic produce and alternative medicine. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110. www.booksoup.com. Sapphire The writer had a mainstream breakout with the film "Precious," based on her novel "Push."

Adapted screenplay "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Geoffrey Fletcher Among the biggest surprises of the night, Geoffrey Fletcher won for adapted screenplay for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." The award makes him the first African American to win a screenwriting Oscar. The heavy favorite had been Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's script for "Up in the Air." Taking the stage, the seemingly awe-struck Fletcher began, "I don't know what to say. This is for everybody who works on a dream every day."

Everyone plays for high stakes in Ilakaka. You can get rich or you can get killed. This city at the heart of Madagascar's sapphire mining industry is estimated to produce 30% of the world's sapphires -- worth at least $30 million a year. And in the Wild West lifestyle of shady casinos and banditry that swaggered into town with the fabulous mining wealth, speculators are being killed at an alarming rate, with as many as 30 homicides a year in a town of 20,000. One of this year's victims was Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law.

Nothing quite prepares you for the rough-cut diamond that is "Precious." A rare blend of pure entertainment and dark social commentary, this shockingly raw, surprisingly irreverent and absolutely unforgettable story of an obese, illiterate, pregnant black Harlem teen circa 1987 is one that you hope will not be dismissed as too difficult, because it should not be missed. "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" will challenge you, but it will also move you as it rocks between the horrific realities and escapist fantasies of 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones (impressive newcomer Gabourey Sidibe)

When Mary Pickford died in 1979 she bequeathed her large star sapphire, the Star of Bombay, to the Smithsonian if the museum would take it. I called the gem man there and asked him if he wanted to take possession. He came right out to Los Angeles, and upon seeing the gem said, "We want this sapphire. It is much brighter than our others--we will trade them off." He opened his pocket knife and pried the clasps loose, freeing the sapphire from the elaborate diamond necklace. He wrapped it in a soft cloth, put it in his coat pocket and returned to Washington.

Gov. Charlie Crist became the first sitting Florida governor to wed in nearly 42 years, exchanging vows at a ceremony attended by about 200 relatives, friends and celebrities. The 52-year-old governor wed New York socialite Carole Rome, 39, in St. Petersburg. They met at a dinner in New York City in September 2007, and Crist proposed less than 10 months later with a sapphire engagement ring. Crist kissed Rome briefly at the end of the ceremony -- perhaps too briefly. She put her hands on his face and kissed him again.

On the very first page of "The Kid," we learn Precious has died, leaving behind an orphan 9-year-old son, Abdul. Just like that, Sapphire, whose novel "Push" was adapted into one of 2009's most acclaimed films, "Precious," moves aside her troubled and inspiring creation so that this can be Abdul's story. Told from his point of view, it is a harrowing, sometimes bewildering tale. He didn't fully grasp the severity of his mother's AIDS; he doesn't understand that he no longer has a home.

Janus, the Roman god for whom the first month of the Gregorian calendar is named, has two heads ? one looking forward to the future and another looking back to the past. That might make just him the most appropriate mascot for 2011's emerging trends ? a simultaneous embrace of technology, such as 4-D and social networks, and a fascination with quainter notions, such as good customer service, ballet and royalty. What follows are some of the main trends we expect to see in the worlds of pop culture and style in the coming year.

BOOKS Don Lattin The author of "The Harvard Psychedelic Club" presents and signs his lively history of how Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith and Andrew Weil crossed paths in the early '60s at a Harvard-sponsored psychedelic-drug research project. Lattin tracks the resultant launching of a new American culture centered on yoga classes, organic produce and alternative medicine. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110. www.booksoup.com. Sapphire The writer had a mainstream breakout with the film "Precious," based on her novel "Push."

MADAGASCAR Presentation Bruce Carter will explore the people, animals, plants and recently discovered sapphire deposits in Madagascar. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 56 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220 MOUNTAINEERING Slide show Mountain guide Kurt Wedberg will present images from a Mt. Everest expedition in 2008. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Griffith Park Visitor Center auditorium, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, L.A. Admission, info: Free.

Up in the Air Paramount, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99 George Clooney gives one of his best performances in Jason Reitman's adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel "Up in the Air," playing a corporate hatchet man who tries to think more about his travel perks than the people he's being paid to fire. Vera Farmiga is equally excellent as the hero's frequent bedmate, while Anna Kendrick is a revelation as a protégée who resists his worldview while acknowledging its attractions. Reitman telegraphs too much of what he wants the audience to understand about Clooney's character and the life he leads, but "Up in the Air" is amusing and moving enough to overcome any patness.

Adapted screenplay "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Geoffrey Fletcher Among the biggest surprises of the night, Geoffrey Fletcher won for best adapted screenplay for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." The award makes him the first African American to win a screenwriting Oscar. The heavy favorite in the category had been Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's script for "Up in the Air." Taking the stage, the seemingly awe struck Fletcher began, "I don't know what to say. This is for everybody who works on a dream every day."

BEST PICTURE "Avatar" "The Blind Side" "District 9" "An Education" "The Hurt Locker" "Inglourious Basterds" "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" "A Serious Man" "Up" "Up in the Air" SPOTLIGHT: In a classic David-versus-Goliath fight, pitting more than $2-billion box office giant "Avatar" against "The Hurt Locker," a maverick indie that has reaped only $16...

BEST PICTURE "Avatar" "The Blind Side" "District 9" "An Education" "The Hurt Locker" "Inglourious Basterds" "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" "A Serious Man" "Up" "Up in the Air" SPOTLIGHT: In a classic David-versus-Goliath fight, pitting more than $2-billion box office giant "Avatar" against "The Hurt Locker," a maverick indie that has reaped only $16...