The title may sound like a class for linebackers at Thudpucker University, but this serious, and thorough, video means business. Cave dwellers wove stalks of grass to make baskets; Lynn Prince and Mary Cupples chose slender splints of ash to teach the rudiments of this ancient handicraft. The lessons start with a list of essential tools and a primer on basket-building terms. Next come tips on measuring, cutting, soaking, weaving, staining and stenciling, all at a leisurely pace that will make you a basket and not a basket case. As a how-to, this is a tidy production, with fine use of graphics and first-rate camera work, but the video suffers from plodding direction. Prince and Cupples clearly know their woof from their warp, but they seem to be reading from a script, which lends a stiff tone to what should be a flexible art. (Mary-Lynn Videos, $29.95, including materials; 313/626-0146)
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