From the editor

If you have the space, you can give art a home of its own

Visitors are often surprised to find so little art — other than artful books — in our house. I love art. Still, our bungalow provides very little display space, and our budget disallows most impulse purchases. So I spend part of every week enjoying art in museums and galleries. If anyone on your holiday list can spare the space and would appreciate the gift of art, Jeanne Claire van Ryzin's guide today should be essential reading.

Slices from my Out & About blog on Austin360.com: Strong ensemble performances are made more difficult when the players are not part of an ongoing troupe. Yet the Different Stages actors who performed "The Playboy of the Western World" at Austin Playhouse's second stage could be mistaken for a tightly organized group of longtime colleagues. ... As you know by now, Lovejoy's, the beloved bar just off Sixth Street, will likely close in March. Our published report said the "nail in the coffin" was the smoking ban. For the sake of clarity and fairness, we should point out that owner Chip Tait's blog suggests there are more reasons, including a changing neighborhood and more competition. ... My No. 1 club concert of the year came later in the evening with the Welsh pop group Super Furry Animals. Long, loopy melodies, frontman Gruff Rhys' likable eccentricities, psychedelic visuals and choice distortions all contributed to the act's mounting pleasures. ... Critics and audiences have so far underrated "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," the detective comedy with serious Raymond Chandler roots (including subtitles and themes — incest, pornography, mistaken identity, abuse of power — snatched from Chandler's books) and a wink to movie hyperconsciousness (starting with the Pauline Kael reference in the title). ... Met with Austin Film Society honcho Rebecca Campbell and everything-about-movies maven Janet Pierson — you know, Grainy Pictures — at Flight Path coffeehouse. We sat outside and talked about the society's fabulous 20th anniversary celebrations slated for January. Details to follow. mbarnes@statesman.com; 445-3647

For more of these cultural meanderings, go to "Out & About" at Austin360.com.