* Would-be chocolatiers have a new weapon in their arsenal via the latest iPhone app from master chocolate-maker Jacques Torres. His new app, MrChocolate, offers a virtual tour of his Brooklyn chocolate factory/retail outlet, a chocolate glossary, and the history of chocolate, all for free. An upgrade will get you access to how-tos, techniques and […]
Posted inSpecials
Bee Healed: A Tip for Allergy Season
It’s time to think about it. Spring blossoms will be here sooner than we realize. Although the first pollens are weeks away, now might be a good time to prepare the immune system for the springtime onslaught collectively called “hay fever.” Honey of a deal. People have been using honey medicinally for thousands of years. […]
Posted inMusic
Lee Terry: Indie rock … connoisseur?
* Back when I wrote for another publication in town, I briefly did a short column of live concert reviews succinctly titled Show Notes . After two major sold-out shows this weekend, it’s maybe time to revisit the concept. On Wednesday, I checked in on the sold-out Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., for Interpol. The […]
Posted inTheater
‘Putnam County Spelling Bee’ opening at OCP
* Hilarity (h-i-l-a-r-i-t-y, hilarity) awaits when we get to see some of our favorite local talents playing the comic characters in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, opening Friday at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Dan Chevalier brings his wide-eyed innocence to Leaf Coneybear, the child of hippies who makes his own clothes and sings, […]
Posted inCulture
Magical Acting
Few will fail to find universal value in Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking . It’s about one of America’s great observers, a master of non-fiction writing, facing the void of catastrophic loss. Fortunately, the pair chosen by the Circle Theater to tell us her story, director Daena Schweiger and Barb Ross, the one-woman […]
Posted inSpecials
Coaching carousel at NU, CU
* Over the past 20 or so years there have been two men’s collegiate teams in the state that could reasonably start any season with national title aspirations: Creighton soccer and Nebraska football. There are other national powers, Nebraska bowling and UNO wrestling for example, but as far as spectator sports at the state’s two […]
Posted inCulture
Idris Goodwin SLAM Poetry
Feb. 17 Idris Goodwin SLAM Poetry Metropolitan Community College Elkorn Valley Campus 204th and Dodge, 1 p.m., FREE Idris Goodwin is a man of many hats — educator, hip-hop artist, HBO Def Poet, essayist and award-winning playwright. When Goodwin speaks, you have no choice but to listen, as almost every word he utters is a […]
Posted inCulture
Step Afrika!
Feb. 18 Step Afrika! Holland Performing Arts Center, 1300 Douglas St. 8 p.m., $19-$35, 345.0606, omahaperformingarts.org or ticketomaha.com Step Afrika! should be a real treat for anyone who loves dance but has never seen a step show. Stepping, which is very popular in African-American fraternities and sororities, gets blended here with traditional African dances. Step […]
Posted inCulture
Omaha Lancers Hockey
Feb. 18-19 Omaha Lancers Hockey Friday vs. Green Bay Gamblers, Saturday vs. Lincoln Stars Omaha Civic Auditorium, 1804 Capitol Ave. 7:05 p.m. both nights, $14-$16, 800.745.3000, lancers.com. In their 25th season on the ice, the Western Conference-leading Omaha Lancers have provided entertainment for hundreds of thousands of area sports fans. They’ve inspired countless kids to […]
Posted inCulture
Loom Weaves Brasil’s Carnaval
Feb. 19 Loom Weaves Brasil’s Carnaval Nomad Lounge, 1013 Jones St. 9 p.m., $5, 21+, 884.1231 brentcrampton.typepad.com Loom brings the dance to Nomad Lounge this Saturday for a Brazilian themed Carnaval celebration promising an “explosive cultural exploration.” The famous holiday is in the same vein as Fat Tuesday — one last chance to party down […]