Persona

$39.99 for Sony PlayStation 2. Rated Mature. *** Persona 4 is a heck of a lot like Persona 3, for better or worse. Players who liked that game's randomly generated dungeons and virtual-socializing aspects will find more of those to enjoy here, while players who didn't won't find much to interest them this time around. But for newcomers, there's a lot of potential here. (It's also worth noting that years after the PS2 was rendered technologically obsolete, great games are still being released for it, even if this is likely among the last of them.

[Note: Sorry there was no recap last week; I had technical troubles, and wasn't close to my PVR. (Lesson learned, I'm taking it everywhere with me from now on.) So, of course, a ton of things happened, including Shamar leaving the game for medical reasons, and then the rest of the Fans realized that they couldn't get rid of Eddie or Reynold if they wanted a chance of winning, well, anything. So then they voted out Laura instead.] This week, it seems Brandon's Crazy will go from whispering in his ear to taking full control of his body.

Maryland Public Television and Fortune magazine are poised to enter into an arrangement to create the next generation of the weekly financial program Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, but that appears likely to occur without Louis Rukeyser. As things now stand, the show would lack the man who has been its trademark anchor for all of its 32 years. Instead, it would feature two co-hosts, one selected by MPT and another plucked from the ranks of senior Fortune editors. Rukeyser's contract with Maryland Public Television lapses in June.

Benjamin Franklin arrived with a kite outlined in lights. At the flip of a switch, the lights went on and the character listed his many accomplishments. Adolphe Sax, dressed in formal attire, spoke of his career in music. Amelia Earhart expounded on her flying technique, and Ginger Rogers offered details from her life in film. They were, in reality, fifth-graders who each took on a different persona for the annual wax museum at Cromwell Valley Elementary in Towson. Costumed and accessorized historical, literary, sports and entertainment characters filled the school cafeteria and gym Wednesday.

Guys, tell us what you think of Fabio. Is his romantic, hunky persona intimidating, nauseating, yawn-inspiring? Sound off and we'll print a representative selection of the responses this week in the Today section. Call Sundial at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County). It's a local call. After you hear the greeting, enter code 6120 on your touchtone phone.

Jackie Walker has been conducting style seminars all across the country for 15 years, and the audience reaction is always the same: "The women crowd around me afterward," she says. "They ask, 'Do you have a book? I want to take this information home with me.' " Now, at last, the wardrobe guru does have a book: I Don't Have a Thing to Wear: The Psychology of Your Closet (Pocket Books, $12). It is co-authored by Judie Taggart, a fashion writer. "My mission is to give women self-esteem.

Elvis Costello emerged from the '70s punk explosion as the singer-songwriter of the crowd, and though his music has gone through changes, he hasn't slowed down since. His geeky persona, unique voice and diverse musical output have kept Costello in the spotlight and his fans begging for more. Elvis Costello and the Imposters play Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, on Saturday. Tickets are $60 in advance, $65 on the day of the show. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

"Lost and Found" isn't exactly the film you'd expect from David Spade, whose picture appears in the dictionary alongside the word "smarmy." That's bad news for fans of Spade's TV work on "Saturday Night Live" and (especially) "Just Shoot Me," but it makes this film a lot more watchable than it could be.Not that "Lost and Found" is some sort of minor masterpiece. Any movie that resorts to having a character dig through dog feces for yucks (not to mention the tired anti-convention of having old people talk dirty)

It would take a hard-hearted person indeed not to feel some sympathy for the Reagans today as they confront the equivalent of a supermarket tabloid scandal carried to the 20th power.Reagan has issued a more or less all-points denial of what is contained in the sensational "unauthorized biography" of Nancy Reagan by the indefatigable celebrity giant-killer Kitty Kelley. The problem is that a fair amount of what Kelley reports is now a matter of public record, and it is not a flattering picture of the couple who purported to be the standard-bearer of "traditional family values" in America.

That crunching sound you hear is Ingmar Bergman turning in his frigid Scandinavian grave. In Margot at the Wedding, the writer-director, Noah Baumbach, wants to ape the Bergman of The Passion of Anna and Persona and Saraband. But he never conveys that his dramatis personae have anything of interest to say or that he's seen something in their existential slapstick that justifies spending an hour and a half in their hapless company. After triumphing as a writer-director in his nerve-rattling, tragicomic film about a child's view of divorce, The Squid and the Whale, Baumbach may have felt liberated to amp up another family spectacle of in-grown nuttiness and sorrow.

While the Washington Wizards introduced a youthfully overhauled roster, including No. 1 overall pick John Wall, to the media on Monday, the spotlight during the approximately two-hour session quickly turned to their longest-tenured player when guard Gilbert Arenas entered the practice court at Verizon Center. After several stops to pose for pictures, the three-time All-Star participated in a short news conference in which he answered questions, mostly about his comeback from last season's 50-game suspension for bringing firearms into the Verizon Center locker room.

Somehow, it's not hard to imagine Richie Fields at 16, driving a van down Coastal Highway at 3 a.m. to deliver fresh doughnuts from his parents' Ocean City bakery to a chain of convenience stores. With his contagious grin and friendly personality, he's always been something of a natural salesman. But picture the future country music singer negotiating a side deal to navigate his doughnut-shop-on-wheels around the streets of a trailer park at 8 a.m. each weekday, honking his horn and calling out, "Doughnuts, pastries!"

$39.99 for Sony PlayStation 2. Rated Mature. *** Persona 4 is a heck of a lot like Persona 3, for better or worse. Players who liked that game's randomly generated dungeons and virtual-socializing aspects will find more of those to enjoy here, while players who didn't won't find much to interest them this time around. But for newcomers, there's a lot of potential here. (It's also worth noting that years after the PS2 was rendered technologically obsolete, great games are still being released for it, even if this is likely among the last of them.

PHOENIX -- The go-to theme for any tale about Tom Coughlin during Super Bowl week has been this: The New York Giants coach has changed. He has softened his demeanor, toned down his approach to his players and bonded better, and they've taken their transformed relationship to the Super Bowl. Right? Sure. Until Plaxico Burress started making predictions. Whether the storm stirred up by Burress' claim of a 23-17 Giants victory over the New England Patriots has altered Coughlin's new philosophy is anyone's guess.

That crunching sound you hear is Ingmar Bergman turning in his frigid Scandinavian grave. In Margot at the Wedding, the writer-director, Noah Baumbach, wants to ape the Bergman of The Passion of Anna and Persona and Saraband. But he never conveys that his dramatis personae have anything of interest to say or that he's seen something in their existential slapstick that justifies spending an hour and a half in their hapless company. After triumphing as a writer-director in his nerve-rattling, tragicomic film about a child's view of divorce, The Squid and the Whale, Baumbach may have felt liberated to amp up another family spectacle of in-grown nuttiness and sorrow.

Elvis Costello emerged from the '70s punk explosion as the singer-songwriter of the crowd, and though his music has gone through changes, he hasn't slowed down since. His geeky persona, unique voice and diverse musical output have kept Costello in the spotlight and his fans begging for more. Elvis Costello and the Imposters play Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, on Saturday. Tickets are $60 in advance, $65 on the day of the show. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

I want you to pay close attention: This is not a column about the guilt or innocence of Michael Jackson, though the popular entertainer and tabloid hero figures prominently in the discussion.This column is about Michael as metaphor. It is about what it means to be a black man in America, what it used to mean, and maybe what it should mean.It so happens that Mr. Jackson is one of the richest and most beloved black men in America. But does that make him a paradigm of black manhood?Last month, the parents of a 13-year-old boy filed a civil suit in Los Angeles charging Mr. Jackson with sexually molesting their son. The allegations first surfaced in mid-August after a therapist decided the boy's story was credible and Los Angeles police raided the Jackson estate looking for evidence.

I was a freshman in college when this spicy Brooklyn chick named Lil' Kim stormed onto the hip-hop horizon. At every campus party that year -- 1996 -- folks packed the dance floor when the DJ threw on "No Time," her sassy, James Brown funk-flavored hit. Her flow was decidedly masculine, the lyrical content raw and pornographic. She punctuated the lazy groove with rhymes that were clever and funny, but too nasty to reprint in a family newspaper. The promotional shots for her classic debut, Hard Core, featured the honey-toned Tabasco-tongued rapper squatting in a bikini and heels.

As the spring weather begins to sprout athletes, you may spot a few late-bloomers like Beth Gunter of Abingdon, who is training for a national cycling competition in Louisville, Ky. Gunter, 53, is biking 125 to 175 miles a week to prepare for next month's 2007 Summer National Senior Games, known as the Senior Olympics. Dave Doi, 60, of Bethesda is swimming, running and biking in preparation for the competition's triathlon, while his 59-year-old wife, Sue Miler, a bronze medalist in volleyball in the 2005 games, is also working out and practicing with her team.

Persona, the first of many fruitful collaborations between director Ingmar Bergman and actress Liv Ullmann, is the next scheduled film in the Charles Theatre's 13-week Bergman retrospective. The 1966 film stars Ullmann as a nurse who develops a strong identification with a mute patient. Said Bergman, "I touched wordless secrets that only the cinema can discover." Showtime is noon tomorrow, followed by encores at 7 p.m. Monday and 9 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $6 tomorrow, $8 other times for the show at 1711 N. Charles St. Information: 410-727-FILM or thecharles.