LIGHTNING STRIKES

Lighting McQueen won't be racing or talking at the 2007 World of Wheels Custom Car Show this weekend, because the place isn't built for racing and, well, cars really can't talk.

	Lightning McQueen from the animated movie "Cars" makes a pit stop at the Convention Center for the World of Wheels Custom Car Show. Click photo for larger image.

Instead, McQueen, one of 2006's hottest movie stars, is just going to sit around and smile.

The Car Show rolls into the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Friday through Sunday with celebrities, both human and automotive.

Special guests include NASCAR's Ricky Rudd (2-4 p.m. Sunday), the WWE's masked marvel Rey Mysterio (6-8 p.m. Saturday), former Steelers Dwight White (1-3 p.m. Sunday) and Mel Blount (3-5 p.m.), and Paul Le Mat, who portrayed hot-rodding hipster John Milner in "American Graffiti" along with the 1932 Ford Coupe (all weekend).

Also in the car section will be Rick Spade's Phantom Caprice, and "Heroes," a 1999 Chevy 4x4 truck that stands nearly 12 feet tall. There also will be stage shows by the Perfect Angelz all weekend long.

O.A.R. rolls into the A.J. Palumbo Center Saturday night to tell "Stories of a Stranger." Click photo for larger image.

Show hours are 3 to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $13; $5 kids 6-12; 5 and under free. Go to www.autorama.com.

TODAY

Trumpeter Chris Botti, not the kind of guy who's trying to go wrestle Wynton Marsalis for the top, works the lighter side of jazz and has collaborated with the likes of Sting and Gladys Knight. He brings the love to Heinz Hall at 7:30 p.m.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano plays a much broader repertoire than its name suggests, but this time it is indeed offering some seductive Latin music. With guitarist Manuel Barrueco, the group, long in residence at Carnegie Mellon University, will perform his arrangement of Piazzolla's "Tango Sensations" and other works in a free concert 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Concert Hall, Carnegie Mellon University.

FRIDAY

Three dancers from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and a graduate student from PBT School premiere their new choreographed pieces in "Dance Innovations" at CAPA High School, Downtown. Daisuke Takeuchi, Christopher Bandy, Alan Obuzor and Kelsey Bartman present work ranging from jazz to classical to hip-hop. It's at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call 412-454-6666.

Andres Cardenes will lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Bellefield Hall Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh. On the program will be "Visions and Miracles" by Christopher Theofanidis, Haydn's Symphony No. 43, "Mercury," Mozart's Symphony No. 33 and more. Tickets are $12.50; $10 for Pitt students, $12.50 for Pitt faculty and staff. 412-624-4498.

Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery opens a Group Show with Cal Breed, Moshe Bursuker, Maude Bussieres, Afro Celotto, Paul Nelson, Catharine Newell, Terri Stanley and Martin Kremer. It's at 5:30 p.m. at 5833 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside. Call 412-441-5200.

At the movies:

"Letters From Iwo Jima": Clint Eastwood's film landed on the Top 10 lists of all three PG movie critics and won a Golden Globe earlier this week for best foreign language film. It is the flip side of "Flags of Our Fathers," with Eastwood looking at the war from the perspective of the Japanese attempting, unsuccessfully, to safeguard the island.

"The Hitcher": Sean Bean fills the shoes of Rutger Hauer in this remake of the 1986 movie about an innocent young man who picks up a psycho.

"Last King of Scotland": A Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission becomes irreversibly entangled with Idi Amin (a spot-on Forest Whitaker), who chooses him as his personal physician and confidant.

"Pan's Labyrinth": This Spanish-language tale about a girl's dark fantasy life in fascist Spain was named best picture of 2006 by The National Society of Film Critics.

"Iraq in Fragments": Documentary from James Longley, who spent two years living and filming in Iraq after the 2003 start of the war. See review, page W-20.

SATURDAY

We haven't even gotten to the Super Bowl yet, but the Pittsburgh Symphony is already in the mood for baseball. The PSO steps to the plate with "A Tribute to African American Heroes" featuring works by Duke Ellington, Adolphus Hailstork, Beethoven and Richard Danielpour's "Pastime" -- a musical tribute to Hank Aaron, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson, plus uplifting text from speeches and poems by Martin Luther King, Jr. It's at 8 p.m. at Heinz Hall. Tickets are $5; $15; $25. Call 412-392-4900 or go to www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

One of the only places where you'll ever see the Pitt Panther and Penn State Nittany Lion together, much to the dismay of many, is at the Schenley Park Ice Rink for the annual Mascot Skate. The 20th annual event takes place from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. with those two rival cats, along with the Pittsburgh Zoo's Polar Bear, Kenny Kangaroo, Ronald McDonald, T Carnegie Rex, Jalapeno Hanna the Pierogi, the PRC Litterbug and more. Admission is $4; $3 for seniors and kids 17 and younger. Call 412-422-422-6523.

Roots-rock band O.A.R., last seen here singing the National Anthem at the MLB All-Star Game, returns to town, on the final leg of its tour supporting the 2005 release "Stories of a Stranger." Opening the show at the A.J. Palumbo Center at 7:30 p.m. is British jam band Gomez. Tickets are $25. Call 412-323-1919.

Model train enthusiasts looking to add to their collections can head for Pittsburgh ExpoMart for the World's Greatest Hobby on Tour Show, where there will be vendors, operating layouts and the Walt Disney Railroad Story Exhibit. It runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $9; kids 16 and under free. Go to www.wghshow.com.

SUNDAY

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans travel to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg for an afternoon of music, songs and dances from Eastern Europe and neighboring cultures. It begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22 and $17. Call 724-836-8000, or online at www.thepalacetheatre.org