A&E

The Spokesman-Review is looking for the best seasonal drinks in town.

Octopuses can open jars, use tools, solve puzzles and even recognize individual human faces staring back at them through aquarium glass.

Of the nine major food allergens, two are nuts – specifically peanuts (technically a legume), and tree nuts, including almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. (The others are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, soybeans and sesame.) That’s a lot of ground to cover for people with nut allergies, especially because nuts are a common ingredient in all sorts of sweet and savory recipes.

Dear Annie: Are you aware that, according to experts, approximately 25% of adult children do not speak to one or both of their parents? I’m in that situation. I gave my two daughters everything they wanted that I could afford to give them: dance and music lessons, dive and soccer teams, trips throughout the U.S. and overseas and expensive private schools of their choice. While my daughters wore designer clothing, I bought my clothing from discount stores. I never beat them or spoke unkindly to them or about them. I was always very proud of them.

If there’s one thing that KISS is going to do, it’s sell out. Sell-out concerts on back-to-back nights at Madison Square Garden 50 years after debuting. Sell out out merch at every show for the last few decades. Sell out by trying to jump on the disco bandwagon in the late 1970s. Or sell out by emblazoning its members’ faces on the most benign everyday items, including lunchboxes, action ...

Julia Roberts has been hugging her loved ones a little tighter since the death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry in late October.

Dear Doctors: What is your opinion of the brain and memory supplements that we see advertised on TV? I’m also curious about other supplements, like the ones that are advertised to help with vision or for joint health. Do any help?

Time magazine released its shortlist for its perennial Person of the Year selection.

Dear Annie: I regularly read your well-written columns and always enjoy them. Keep up the good work!

Red Hot Chili Peppers shows are rarely within driving distance. However, the iconic punk-funk band will play May 31 at the Gorge. Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale (citientertainment.com) Tuesday at 10 am. Tickets for the general public go on sale 10 a.m. Friday at redhotchilipeppers.com.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How should I respond when someone comments that I appear too stylish or well-dressed?

On a Monday afternoon, Wally and Woody stalked through towering pines atop catwalks in the backyard of their South Hill home, occasionally glancing down at guests from their lofty treehouse perch.

Growing up, I marveled at the themed Christmas cards my father created in our basement darkroom each holiday season. A hobby photographer who taught each of his four children how to develop film, dad’s magical ability to transform our entire family into dancing elves or spirited snow people was a wonder to my young eyes and a smash hit with both relatives and neighbors alike. Back then, mailboxes brimmed chock-full of colorful Christmas cards, but these days our options for conveying holiday wishes are vast and varied.

Dear Annie: Seventeen years ago, my husband had an emotional affair with his co-worker. I confronted her when it started (she texted him after finding out we were having problems) and told her to please stop. However, the texts and happy hours between them continued for another month or two. I eventually confronted both of them when they were at her house. After that, they stopped communicating. To this day, he still says nothing happened.

Dear Doctors: What is a geriatrician, and how do you know if you need one? My mom is 78 and is starting to be frail. She feels like her regular doctor doesn’t listen to her and rushes through her appointments. I wonder if switching to a specialist might be better for her.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How can I politely stop someone from showing me endless photos on their cellphone?

Dear Annie: My daughter recently and courageously moved across the country to the city her godmother lives in. I chose this friend to be her god mom based on what I thought was a beautiful bond the two had with each other. I adopted my daughter when she was in her late teens after a heck of a time in foster care system. My friend gave my daughter a dear nickname early on and lavished praise on her to no end. Fast-forward 15 years later, and my daughter has a master’s degree, bought herself a new car, has great credit and is otherwise doing well.

Shane MacGowan, the brilliant but chaotic songwriter who as frontman for the Pogues reinvigorated interest in Irish music in the 1980s by harnessing it to the propulsive power of punk rock, died Thursday. He was 65.