Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns

* Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns by J. California Cooper Doubleday, April 2006 $24.95, ISBN 0-385-51133-7

In her latest collection of stories, Cooper introduces us to characters who are as warm and familiar as the people with whom we live and work. Indeed, the primary voice in Wild Stars Seeing Midnight Suns is that of a gossipy but well-meaning neighbor who cares deeply for the women and men in her stories.

Ten years ago, when I first read one of Cooper's novels, I was struck by the sense of intimacy the California-based playwright and author established between the reader, the narrator and the assorted characters who brought her stories to life.

In Wild Stars …

Saprissa draws 2-2 with Herediano, claims third straight Costa Rican title

Saprissa won its third straight Costa Rican league title Sunday, holding on for a 2-2 draw with Herediano to claim a 26th national crown.

Saprissa, which won the first leg 2-0 at Herediano's Eladio Rosabal Cordero Stadium on Wednesday, led after only three minutes on Sunday on a goal by Try …

3 things we love about Saturday

There's still plenty of summer left and plenty of activities to enjoy this weekend:

1 The Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan, condenses things down into 2 1/2 hours in its 3 p.m. performance of "The Arabian Nights." Tickets: $52-$56. Info: (312) 337-0665 or www.lookingglasstheatre.org.

2 Blues musician Taj Mahal opens for Bonnie Raitt at Ravinia, Lake Cook and Green Bay roads, Highland Park. Tickets: …

PROTECT YOUR 'GOLD' EMPLOYEES

Today's tech boom is the 21st century version of the california gold rush. But today's gold is a treasure of a different sort-people.

The year? 1849. The sett ing? The rugged, unfamiliar territory known today as the Golden State-California. Miners flocked there set on striking it rich. Some pulled it off, only to learn an immediate lesson: Once you get your hands on gold, you'd better fiercely protect it, or someone is going to steal it.

Today's tech boom is the 21st century version of the gold rush. The setting? The vast, constantly changing frontier of technology, still largely unmapped and just waiting for adventurous folks to stake a claim.

But today's gold is …

Japan's Princess Kiko Give Birth to Boy

TOKYO - Japan's Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy early Wednesday, providing the centuries-old Chrysanthemum Throne with its first male heir in more than 40 years, the palace announced.

The birth came about an hour after Kiko, 39, was reported to have undergone a Caesarean section. The boy is the third in line to the throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and Kiko's husband, Prince Akishino.

The arrival of a royal boy forestalled a looming succession crisis for the royal family. Japan's 1947 succession law allows only males to ascend the throne, and prior to Wednesday's Naruhito and Akishino were the only royals eligible for the crown.

The boy, the first male heir …

Review: `Year One' not the most evolved comedy

Making a solid summer comedy starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, David Cross and Hank Azaria should be so easy, a caveman could do it.

Somehow, despite the presence of those reliable actors and the highly advanced skills of comic veterans Harold Ramis and Judd Apatow behind the scenes, "Year One" manages to be a dud.

A few amusing moments and gags pop up here and there, but more often the script feels flat, with a needlessly heavy reliance on scatological jokes. (Director Ramis co-wrote it with "The Office" writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg; he and Apatow are among the producers.) Black's character literally eats feces at one …

Marshall Concentrates In Rout of Morgan Pk.

If there is a way to beat Marshall's Commandos, it might be todistract them.

With her team leading Morgan Park 40-27 at halftime, coachDorothy Gaters told her team "to concentrate" in the second half.

No. 2 Marshall (4-0) responded with a 26-0 run en route to an84-41 victory over Morgan Park in the second round of the MarshallFour Star Tournament. In the second game, No. 9 Evanston (5-1)stopped Robeson 65-41.

Marshall and Evanston will play for the tournament championshiptoday at 4:30. The Commandos have never lost in the 13-year historyof the tourney.

After Morgan Park (6-3) scored the first basket of the secondhalf, the Commandos put the game …