As Nikko busily worked in his play kitchen putting pieces of toast into the toy toaster, his future siblings Austin and Molly observed, often teasing him and playfully rolling him around on the floor. Nikko's future father, Kevin Crosby, helped him "cook," while his mother-to-be Leslie looked on.

February typically serves as a dumping ground for weak studio films that offer an easy alternative to “mainstream” audiences who don’t see Oscar bait, but this year has brought some welcome surprises.

Just one review this week, as I didn’t make it to “My Week with Marilyn,” playing in limited release. A look at that will come next week, along with reviews of the wide releases “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and, time permitting, “The Sitter.” The studios’ insistence on conducting a take-no-prisoners December blitz with their prestige pictures has left things a tad crowded for the next few weeks, but I’ll do what I can…

Here is a list of Galt High School graduates for 2010:

The end of the decade coincides with the 10-year anniversary of this column, and what better way to mark the occasion than with an obsessive ranking of the decade's best films?

This Thursday, Lodi Musical Theater's second production, "West Side Story," will open on the stage of Hutchins Street Square, complete with gang rivalry, 1950s dress and lively dance numbers. With 50 cast members, singers and dancers from the Lodi area, director Nicole Warren says the show is bigger than last year's Lodi hit, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," which was put on by the community theater company.

I lost my dog of 13 years on Christmas. I saw that Animal Friends was having an adoption on Saturday (Jan. 17) so decided to have a look. I also thought if I did not find a new friend I would donate all my dog's food and treats to them, as I was sure they would be grateful - wrong.

Thousands of friends, family and educators packed the Lodi Grape Bowl on Friday evening to watch the culmination of a 13-year-long journey for hundreds of Lodi High School seniors.

There's no question that Jodie Foster is a fine actress. In fact, she is perhaps one of the very best actors working today. Very few performers can match her range, and even in supporting roles, she routinely commands attention away from her co-stars. There's a magnetism to her work - a deft mix of defiant strength, innate vulnerability and old-fashioned sex appeal that makes it impossible to take your eyes off her.

Some time ago I was swapping jokes with a co-worker when we discovered we had the same favorite. It's a lengthy joke, and for obvious reasons I won't go into it in length here. Suffice it to say that it involves a man with half an orange for a head relating the story of how he came to be this way.

Baseball

Baseball

"We normally wait over there," said 17-year-old Tim Britt, pointing toward a corner near Lodi High School while a Winston cigarette blazes between his two fingers.

The following is a list of Tokay High School graduates for 2003:

Olympic scandals. Mobsters.

Olympic scandals. Mobsters.

Ceremony: 10 a.m. May 31 at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi.

Ceremony: 10 a.m. May 31 at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi.