Columns

Pajarito Rambler: Canada Bonita Trail in June

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Pajarito Rambler: Canada Bonita Trail in June
By NINA THAYER

Thursday morning this rambler came out of retirement to describe to you the bounty of wildflowers on the Canada Bonita Trail in the Jemez Mountains west of Los Alamos.

Drive out of town on West Jemez Road (N.M. 501) and take the right turn leading to Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. Pass the lodge and park at the end of the paving.

Follow the gravel road for about 150’ and then turn right to the trailhead signs. It is about  one mile to the beautiful meadow, Canada Bonita. A fast pace will get you there in 30 minutes, 40 minutes, if you stroll.  Read More

Bartlit: Mudslide Validates Favorite Doctrines

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By JOHN BARTLIT
New Mexico Citizens
for Clean Air & Water

News of this spring’s deadly mudslide in Oso, Wash., fades slowly from the public mind.

Oso is barely a mini-dot on the map. Yet the microcosm of events that met there reflects the curious array of forces that governs the whole nation.

The Oso story has two most intriguing parts: the persistent powers of nature and the stubborn traits of humans.   

The persistency of nature set the stage in Oso. The hillside that swept away homes and lives had slid on eight or nine occasions going back to 1949, including a huge slide in 2006. Read More

Skin Care Column: Three Most Common Skin Problems

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Skin Care Column
Three Most Common Skin Problems
By JUNE ENGLISH, LE and VALORIE TRELOAR MD, CNS

What is the main reason people visit their doctors? It is not heart disease, diabetes or arthritis. It’s skin problems. Here are three of the most common:

Dermatitis (red, itchy skin)

Dermatitis is the name for inflamed skin that can be red, itchy and swollen. There can be oozing, crusting and scaling.

The cause is dryness and the microscopic cracks, tears and blisters that accompany it. It is the main skin problem plaguing people age 50 and older. The reason: Older people produce smaller amounts of skin-lubricating Read More

How the Hen House Turns: Conversations With Dogs

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How the Hen House Turns
Conversations With Dogs
Column by Carolyn A. (Cary) Neeper, Ph. D.

Do we read far too much into the body language of animals? Or do we not give them enough credit for their general intelligence? I’m afraid we miss half of the sophisticated body language that they desperately try to make us understand.

Take for example the conversation I had with Poncho, our black and white Santa Fe shepherd. I was sitting at the sewing machine doing something I no longer do, when Poncho came into the house. He surveyed the backpacks in the hallway and ran up to me, jumping and whining and wagging Read More

The Stumbling Critic Reviews ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

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The Stumbling Critic: ‘Edge of Tomorrow’
By STEVEN WALTER

It’s been a rough few years for Tom Cruise. For an actor with his credentials, he’s headlined some crappy movies. I didn’t know who Jack Reacher was and after watching Jack Reacher, I still didn’t know and didn’t care. Oblivion was a science-fiction train wreck and Rock of Ages was funny, but forgettable. I thought grim times would continue until Edge of Tomorrow surfaced. Frequent visits to Rotten Tomatoes help me decide which movie to watch next. Tom’s latest endeavor got a string of positive reviews; thus, my expectations were elevated. Read More

This Week at the Reel Deal

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Column By JIM O’DONNELL     

This week we are opening the highly lauded film, Chef and will hold Edge of Tomorrow, The Fault in our Stars and How to Train your Dragon 2. Maleficent will end this Thursday.

Chef’s stellar cast includes Dustin Hoffman, John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Chef, John Favreau.We decided to open this film instead of one of the many blockbusters available now in hopes of bringing patrons with other interests to the Reel Deal.

As Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times says, “If Chef were a musical, Read More

Food on the Hill: Veal Marsala

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This week’s recipe: Veal Marsala
 
 
Ingredients:
 
12 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
¾ pound of veal, pounded thin
1 cup of flour
salt and pepper
paprika
1/4 cup of butter, softened
2/3 cup of Marsala wine (do NOT get the cooking Marsala wine, go to the wine section and buy it)
1/2 Beef broth
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of water
 
Directions:
 
Fry the mushrooms in the ¼ cup of butter. Do this in batches, so they get a golden crust to them.
 
 
Set aside the cooked mushrooms. Do NOT clean the pan in between any of the cooking.
Read More

Yang: To Be Normal, Or To Be Weird? That Is NOT The Question

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To Be Normal, Or To Be Weird? That Is NOT The Question

By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

The questions should be: How weird is weird? For how long should weirdness be allowed to go on? Of course, what I really should put in the title is “To have normal ideas or to have weird ideas…” Kind of boring, isn’t? In order to catch people’s attention, I have to step beyond the normal boundary. This is the same rationale with which Robert Sutton begins his book, Weird Ideas That Work, published in 2002. 

To be innovative, or to be creative, is all about operating outside the norm.

Mr. Sutton breaks down the organizing Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews ‘The Fault in Our Stars’

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By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB
Los Alamos

“The Fault in Our Stars” is winning market share at the box office these days. This film, based on the novel by John Green, is immensely popular with young adults and teenagers.  Yet, the story has a message for anyone with a tender heart who has wondered at the “fairness” of terminal cancer, or of any death that cuts short a life. Rather than being depressing, this movie takes viewers on an uplifting journey.

Movie poster for ‘The Fault in Our Stars.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater

Hazel Grace Lancaster is 16 when she meets 18-year-old Augustus Waters Read More

Medicine from the Garden: Five Common Garden Plants that Belong in Your Medicine Chest

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Medicine from the Garden
Five Common Garden Plants that Belong in Your Medicine Chest
By KRISTI BEGUIN

Summer is here! As a result of the recent and very welcome spring rains, our local trails are suddenly burgeoning with blossoms. A stroll through any one of our Los Alamos canyons becomes a sensory-filled experience thanks to the lush colors and scents of the many plants, herbs, shrubs, and blossoms that are coming out in force. Many of us have planted our gardens, and are eagerly awaiting our first harvest.

Summer is the perfect time to collect, preserve and store up a supply of herbs and spices Read More