Anchorage Daily News

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

Trip tracker

With more than 300 million active viewers, Facebook has become a smart way for businesses to reach consumers. These tourism-related sites are offering vacation contests to their Facebook fans. Don't "ignore" these opportunities!

TALK DIRT TO ME

Options to consider to keep garden moose-free

My nose is running like a river and glowing as red as Rudolph's as I write. What is it about freeze-up and the end of outdoor gardening that lets one's immune system and defense mechanisms down?

Blog: Talk dirt to me

November garden calendar

In brief: Matters of Faith

A roundup of what's happening in spiritual communities around Anchorage

JEFF LOWENFELS

Time to turn your thoughts to house plants

Nothing like frozen ground to make you realize the time to garden indoors for a while has arrived. Even the dog doesn't want to go out this time of year.

MARKET FRESH

Big blue king crab returns to the market

If you're looking for a unique treat, check out what Cade Smith at FishEx is offering this week: fresh St. Matthew Island blue king crab.

Fairbanks woman competes on 'Survivor Philippines'

Amanda Coolley spent a good part of her summer on an island in the South Pacific, but it was no vacation for the 25-year-old Fairbanksan.

Video: Shorts from "Survivor Philippines"

SIOUX SHOWCASE

Top Plains Indian dancers 'Come to the Center'

In an ironic bi-lingual pun, the title of the evening-length performance that the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre will present in Anchorage is the same as the instructions for what you need to do in order to see the show.

ART BEAT

Michelangelo drawings on display in Seattle

While in Washington state on family business last week, I swung into the Seattle Art Museum to see something exceedingly rare: real drawings by Michelangelo.

Two Freds, one show

Blog: Art Snob

NED ROZELL

Researcher spends bad night in a good box on volcano

On a wet, windy, foggy night a few summers ago, Guy Tytgat checked into the loneliest hotel in the Aleutians. His room was four feet wide and five feet tall, made of fiberglass and perched on the lip of a volcanic crater.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

Trip tracker

Got your snow tires on? Winter clothes out of the cedar chest? Before you pack up the summer duds, consider a trip to one of these unique tropical resorts.

Peninsula artist carves 319-pound pumpkin

If Charlie Brown's pal Linus is looking for the great pumpkin, he should try the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. A donated 319-pound pumpkin was turned into a giant gourd sculpture by Joy Falls, a sculpture, ceramics and 3-D art instructor from Kenai Peninsula College.

TALK DIRT TO ME

Act today or miss out

For those of you who have been waiting to find out if Bob Boyer will be selling his wonderful greenhouse apples again -- he is -- but only from 1-5 p.m. today.

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

In brief: Matters of faith

A roundup of what's happening in spiritual communities around Anchorage

JEFF LOWENFELS

Chase the winter gloom with holiday blooms

Ah, winter settles in. Now how about getting those special, indoor plants to perform while we wait for the ground to thaw next spring?