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Not all movies work at cruising altitude. If you're traveling for the holidays, here's what NPR's pop culture critics suggest to make the time fly by.

Martha Redbone brings her blend of soul, funk, pop, and Native American sounds to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm.

Recently, a nationwide competition defined golden treasure worth more than $26,000 came to an end in western Massachusetts's Franklin County, when Dan Leonard used his meteorology skills to locate the treasure. But now, Project Skydrop says a new treasure hunt is unfolding somewhere in the woods is more than $87,000 in pure gold waiting to be discovered. In the first hunt, registered participants received clues throughout the search as a search diameter on the Project Skydrop website grew smaller each day until the hunt was over. This time, there's a puzzle. I spoke with the New Hampshire based game designers Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey who are behind the hunt.

Police say a man had a knife, and confronted the woman behind the counter when he walked into Pop's Barbecue in New Iberia, La. Rather than just give up the money, she grabbed a pot that was on a counter, and whacked him again and again. The robber ran away.

To make the 5,000 pound kettle-corn ball, the popping has already begun for a fair that doesn't open until next month. A company called Snax in Pax is using a mold that's eight-feet wide.

A Dutchman planned to use a crane to perch himself outside his girlfriend's window. He wanted to serenade her before popping the question. Even though the crane tipped over, she said yes.

2: Record producer PHIL RAMONE. He has been called the "Pope of pop," producing and engineering artists from Bob Dylan to Gloria Estefan, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and dozens of others. Last year he produced Frank Sinatra's Duets 2. RAMONE has just finished recording a classical album with the Curtis Institute Orchestra(EMI). He also produce the cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion."

The founder of the Mamas and the Papas, John Phillips. He died of heart failure on Sunday. He was 65. Phillips was the principal songwriter for the pop group which had a string of hits from 1966 to 1968 when the group broke up. Their hits included Monday, Monday, California Dreamin, I Saw Her Again Last Night and others. (REBROADCAST from

David Greenberger reviews a new CD that jokingly delivers a "battle of the bands". It's a 2-CD set, from two different pop/rock bands, both led by musician Scott McCaughey. One band is called The Young Fresh Fellows; the other is The Minus Five. The battle is billed as The Young Fresh Fellows versus The Minus Five. The CD's liner notes even has instructions for tallying up a point count for each of the two contenders. The label is Mammoth Records, copyright 2001.

In popstrological terms, Britney Spears is a "daughter" of Olivia Newton-John, born under the 1981 hit song "Let's Get Physical." Ian Van Tuyl's Popstrology: The Art and Science of Reading the Popstars shows how pop music's powerful forces affect us all from the day we're born.