Movie catch-up
The Academy Award nominations will be announced Thursday so this may be a good time to check out contenders — or to plan some looks at the nominated films that are available next weekend.
According to the motion picture academy, the awards process has also narrowed the lists of potential nominees in categories like documentary and foreign films. But there are 289 entertainment features eligible this year — although, as usual, most experts are expecting no more than a handful of features to dominate the major nominations, such as 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Gravity and Captain Phillips.
Bring on spring
You can’t fast forward the calendar, but you can add a bit of springtime to your home in winter by forcing an amaryllis bulb into bloom.
Just soak a bulb in lukewarm water for a few hours, plant it up to its neck in a container using potting mix you’ve moistened with water, and put the pot in a warm, sunny spot. Water sparingly until the plant sprouts so the bulb doesn’t rot.
Once growth appears, increase the water enough to keep the soil moist. Moving the plant to a cool spot when it blooms will keep it in flower longer.
Start a bulb every couple of weeks, and you’ll have flowers until spring really does return.
Hocking Hills hike
The six-mile Hocking Hills Winter Hike from Old Man’s Cave to Ash Cave draws thousands of hikers from around the globe to Ohio each year to experience some of the Midwest’s most spectacular scenery. The hike, on Saturday, features continuous starts from 9-11 a.m.
Hot bean soup is served midway at Cedar Falls for a donation, and a shuttle bus will return hikers from Ash Cave to the parking lot at Old Man’s Cave.
Complete traveler information is available at http:// ExploreHockingHills.com or by calling 800-462-5464.
Go north for dinner
Zack Bruell Restaurants are celebrating Restaurant Week from Monday through Jan. 26, offering three-course meals for just $33. The deal is good any day the restaurants are open, including weekends.
Bruell’s five participating Cleveland restaurants are Parallax, Table 45, L’Albatros, Chinato and Cowell & Hubbard. Each restaurant will offer several different choices for each course.
Visit http://zackbruell.com to link to any of the restaurant websites and view their menus or make reservations.
Hot music, hot flashes
So have you always thought hot flashes, dryness, night sweats and an overactive bladder were prime comedic fodder? Then head on up to the Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare to see Menopause the Musical. The long-running estrogen-fueled jukebox musical parody features four women at a lingerie sale, talking and singing classic hits from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.
It runs Tuesday through Feb. 2. Tickets are $10-$60; call 216-241-6000, 866-546-1353 or visit www.playhousesquare.org.
