Anchorage Daily News

JEFF LOWENFELS

For an interesting houseplant, gather ye moss

I like mosses. They are some of my favorite plants. They don't grow very tall. They don't need any care. When they dry out, you just need to add water to green them up again. They really don't need all that much light. And they are beautiful.

TALK DIRT TO ME

Alaska gardeners on what did and didn't work

Now that we've had some time to reflect, what would you say have been your successes and/or failures of the past summer? Please share your own experiences with us on the Talk Dirt Blog.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

November garden calendar

MARKET FRESH

Local options for your Thanksgiving

Thursday after tomorrow is a big day for cooking and eating. But if you're more interested in eating than all the cooking and preparation, you have options. Marx Bros. Cafe and L'Aroma Bakery and Deli both offer take-and-bake Thanksgiving meals.

REVIEW

Cello adds panache to folk group; harmonies are missed

Crooked Still brings a distinct sound to traditional string band folk music by limiting the use of guitar and by avoiding vocal harmonies -- but mainly by putting a cello into the mix and spotlighting it.

Blog: Art Snob

Before fame came

I grew up in the suburbs on the north side of Detroit. It was a big city even in the 1950s. The night sky was obscured by streetlights and buildings, so I grew up very unaware of nature, the moon, and of the life cycles of plants and animals.

ART BEAT

Director wigs out when actress falls ill

"Almost, Alaska," a romantic comedy, flirted with tragedy early this month. Just before the play, now running at Cyrano's, was to begin, one of the actresses came down with H1N1 flu -- and there was no understudy.

Blog: Art Snob

NED ROZELL

When it comes to sense of smell, dogs rule

A dog can tell you a lot about the outdoors. When a Lab vacuums the ground with her nose and her tail moves like a helicopter blade, you know a grouse is about to fly.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

Trip tracker

Does the thought of another large family Thanksgiving dinner, with dry turkey and tipsy, bickering relatives leave you wanting to just get away from it all?

REVIEW

Wacky opera 'Audition' spotlights local voices

Evidence of Anchorage Opera's efforts to get more local singers on stage can be seen in the current production of "Sister Angelica" with an all-Alaskan cast and Tuesday evening's "Dark Night" presentation of Martin Kalmanoff's "The Audition."

REVIEW

Momentum Dance Collective puts on an intriguing show

Exploration is the name of the game for contemporary dance companies like Momentum Dance Collective. Choreographers and performers launch themselves into little-charted territory to see what they can discover and use in crafting a dance.

TALK DIRT TO ME

Don't be too quick to lament the snow

I knew it was coming eventually, but when it began to snow Sunday evening, I wasn't psychologically ready for it.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

November garden calendar

JEFF LOWENFELS

Hydroponics is easier (and cheaper) than ever

I am trying to get more of you to try gardening using hydroponics, particularly during the winter months. It is a great way to garden indoors -- and indoors we are for nine months.

MARKET FRESH

Local produce available, snow or no

Now that winter is really settling in, perhaps you’re starting to miss the trips you took to the pleasant outdoor farmers’ markets during the summer months.

Filmmaker seeks Inuit actors

The producers of a full-length movie version of Alaska director Andrew Maclean's award-winning film "On the Ice" ("Sikumi") will hold a final round of auditions in Anchorage.

Chef has plenty of wild ideas for using fresh Alaska foods

If it was caught, grown or harvested in Alaska, chances are good that chef Rob Kinneen has used it in an entree at Orso Ristorante in downtown Anchorage.

REVIEW

Mimes upstage music in operas

The most entertaining moment in Anchorage Opera's double-bill of "Sister Angelica" and "I Pagliacci" comes right at the opening of the latter and doesn't involve singing. Jane Park Drebert does a cartwheel on the edge of the stage and, with comic intent, flubs it, falling on her patoot.

Blog: Art Snob

Alaskan returns from New York to direct opera double-header

The director of Anchorage Opera's twin bill of "I Pagliacci" and "Sister Angelica" is also the director of a hit musical that's been filling houses in New York for the past two years. When's the last time that kind of heavy-hitter did a show in this town?

Comic lights brighten Dark Nights

ART BEAT

Jazz giants stand up for bullied kids

Concerts for good causes are not news, but the upcoming jazz program headlined by Jeff Golub and Rick Braun caught our attention for several reasons.

Blog: Art Snob

NED ROZELL

Journey into the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Almost 100 years after the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is still a moonscape of ash and volcanic rock, without a tree or shrub in sight.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans