Holiday is here

You're probably too busy either shopping, wrapping, traveling, cooking, baking, relaxing or silently panicking to read this, but ... Merry Christmas!

We hope you enjoy the holiday to its fullest.

Before we move on, let's quickly review some of the bigger holiday options here:

• It's a scenic drive right now to snowy Hartwood Acres in Hampton/Indiana Township for The Celebration of Lights, a 3.2-mile drive-through Christmas display that is always dazzling. Your $12 per car donation benefits The Salvation Army/WTAE-TV Project Bundle-Up and various local charities. It runs through Jan. 3. Sunday-Thursday 6-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 6-11 p.m. 412-767-9200.

• The Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History in Oakland is aglow with its traditional display of holiday trees, this year celebrating decorative arts, along with the Neapolitan presepio, a miniature Nativity scene with more than 100 life-like figures created between 1700 and 1830. It runs through Jan. 10. The museum is closed Christmas Day. Call 412-622-3131.

• The Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore is the home of the 2,300-square-foot Miniature Railroad & Village, featuring the newest addition, a replica of the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece Fallingwater. The Science Center is also showing the expansive exhibit Roboworld and screening "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea" and "Mysteries of the Great Lakes" in the Omnimax Theater. The Science Center is closed Christmas Day and also Sunday, due to the Steelers home game. Call 412-237-3400.

• There are few places more beautiful this time of year than Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Schenley Park, Oakland. Phipps is right in the middle of its Winter Flower Show Candlelight Evenings, burning till 10 p.m. through Dec. 31. Also, the Family Fun Days run Saturday through Dec. 30. Call 412-622-6914.

• "Spirits of Giving From Around the World," an exhibit of life-size Santas and oil paintings representing 16 countries, continues at the PPG Place Wintergarden, along with a 32-foot Christmas tree, an exhibit by the Pittsburgh Miniature Society and Gingerbread House Display and Train Exhibit. It's free and runs through Jan. 7 (412-434-1900) and can be paired with a trip to the beautiful Rink at PPG Place (412-394-3641).

• Clayton, the turn-of-the-20th-century Frick mansion, part of The Frick Art & Historical Center in Point Breeze, is dressed for the holidays in the spirit of the early 1900s. Tours run through Jan. 3. It is also closed on Christmas. Call 412-371-0600.

• Gemini Children's Theater in Point Breeze finishes the run of its original musical adaptation of "Babes in Toyland," featuring Mother Goose characters, the sinister Barnaby and his henchmen and a factory filled with talking toys. The show, at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, has the distinctive Gemini touch of interactive songs that allow participation by audience members from their seats and on stage. Tickets are $9.50 at 412-243-5201 or geminitheater.org.

The movies

It's Christmas Day, which means Santa in the wee hours, a holiday meal and a chance to finally see all those movies that have been advertised for weeks on TV.

Among those opening Friday:

"It's Complicated": Comedy starring Meryl Streep as a divorced mother of three who starts an affair with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin), who is married to a much younger woman. On the fringes is Steve Martin as an architect who takes a shine to Streep.

"Nine": Former Pittsburgher Rob Marshall ("Chicago") directs this big-screen adaptation of the Broadway play about an Italian director and the many women in his life. The knockout cast features Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Fergie and Judi Dench.

"Sherlock Holmes": Guy Ritchie brings his signature flair to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous character, played by Robert Downey Jr. The cast also includes Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan and Kelly Reilly.

Trotters

The Harlem Globetrotters bounce into Mellon Arena at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for their annual holiday appearance in Pittsburgh.

This year's roster of basketball showmen includes Harrisburg native Handles Franklin, Lock Haven Class of '97. The 6-foot-1 Handles runs the court in the footsteps of backcourt legend Curly Neal, with his favorite move dribbling the ball while lying on the floor and spinning his body.

Tickets are $17.75-$147 at mellonarena.com or 412-642-1800.

Clark rock

Pittsburgh ex-pats back in town for the holiday will be happy to know that The Clarks are here for you. The perennial local favorite is setting up shop at Altar Bar in the Strip Saturday (over 21; sold out) and Sunday (all ages) for concerts benefiting WHY & The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

If you haven't seen The Clarks yet this year, there will be some new material mixed in with the old standards. The Clarks released "Restless Days," their first CD in five years in 2009, and it was deemed by All Music Guide to be "easily one of their best ... Tom Petty crossed with the Smithereens."

On Saturday, openers will be Jeff & Skip from Good Brother Earl playing acoustic and on Sunday it's Tres Lads.

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will have volunteers on site collecting canned goods as well as taking donations.

Various ticket packages are available online at www.clarkstickets.musictoday.com/clarks/calendar.aspx as well as at Dave's Music Mine and at the Altar Bar box office (during club business hours). Those purchasing tickets through TCFTS, for either of the shows, will receive a link to download a five-song bonus EP.

Spaghetti Western

The Hollywood Theatre in Dormont concludes its film education series The Art of the Spaghetti Western with a 7 p.m. screening of the 1966 Sergio Leone classic "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," which Quentin Tarantino has called "the best-directed film of all time."

The program will be led by John Bender, an Italian film music authority, columnist, reviewer and liner notes contributor for Film Score Monthly.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and are available at the door the night of the screening. Visit www.hollywooddormont.com or call 412-344-1245.

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.