TRAVEL & ADVENTURE SHOW: This two-day get-out-and-go-tacular has the timing pretty down pat. It always arrives just on the heels of people resolving they'll have more fun and see some new places in the coming year. Travel biggies like Rick Steves and Pauline Frommer will be hand at the Long Beach Convention Center to help, as will dozens of hotel, airline, and cruise companies, all boothing it up. NBC4 is a media supporter. Saturday, Jan. 12 and Sunday, Jan. 13.
FINAL WEEK OF "IRIS": If you've been meaning to catch the Hollywood-based Cirque du Soleil show before it shutters on Saturday, Jan. 19, now is commitment time. There are some deals afoot, too. The show, which celebrates the movie industry in that inimitable and quirky Cirque way, recently passed its 500th-performance mark. It's at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
PASADENA CHEESEBURGER WEEK: There's a lot of ballyhoo about a certain meat-and-cheese sandwich being born in the Crown City, but it is ballyhoo that is probably true (and you can't say that about most ballyhoo). A bunch of local restaurants will put out their cheesy, meaty best for admiration during the week, which opens on Sunday, Jan. 13. (One glance down the participant list tells us brioche is much in play in the bun department. Oh yeah. Bring it.)
XENA CON: Just stop whatever you are doing, genre television enthusiasts, and look to the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel for lessons in how a fandom is run. Sure, you may really like a show that's been on for a couple of years, but this sword-and-sass swashbuckler keeps the con love going well over a decade after its TV retirement. Bonus? Lucy Lawless will be in the house. Jan. 11-13.
PANDA CUB DEBUT: He's just about the most famous small furry beastie in the entire Golden State right now, and that includes all of the star animals working in Hollywood. But Xiao Liwu, the nearly 6-month-old San Diego Zoo panda, isn't a movie star but a YouTube star. He's been counting up hundreds of thousands of views as people around the world have watched him grow. He made his public debut on Thursday, Jan. 10, and will be in and around his outdoor habitat at the zoo every day from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
