Ice

Four favorite Disney stories spring to life in a special-effects-filled showcase of skating skills and musical thrills at Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy . "Cars," "The Lion King," "The Little Mermaid" and "Tinker Bell" glide across the ice in front of dazzling backdrops that include an undersea kingdom and the magical world of Pixie Hollow. Audiences are invited to arrive an hour early for a tour of the extravaganza's dazzling gowns. Also at Ontario's Citizen's Business Bank Arena (Dec.

As everyone knows, Friday, March 22, is World Water Day. Herewith, a few obscure facts about water, courtesy of water policy expert Christiane Barranguet, and links to the scientific studies from which the information is derived.  --Drinking an iced beverage before eating chocolate will dull the sweet, creamy or chocolaty taste. The study's authors suggest that this helps explain why North Americans - who commonly consume iced drinks - eat more highly sweetened foods.  --Downing six to eight glasses of water each day is  commonly cited practice to keep skin looking young.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft has found that the Shackleton crater at the moon's frigid south pole contains about 22% ice on its surface, astronomers reported Thursday in the journal Nature. To their surprise, the team apparently saw more ice on the walls of the crater than on its floor. Such ice could prove very valuable for any extended moon mission, providing water and a potential fuel source to astronauts. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, known as LRO, was launched in June 2009 to prepare a detailed map of the moon's surface.

Back in the days before the refrigerator door could be counted on to crush ice at the press of a button, thirsty folks had to rely on other methods to chill their cocktails. One midcentury lifesaver was the manual ice crusher. These handly little gadgets might vary slightly by make and model, but they work on the same principle: Flip open the top, insert ice cubes and turn the crank as metal teeth conveniently crush ice cubes into a waiting basket or ready glass. Voila. Some models even allow you to adjust the level of crushing from coarse to fine.

An icy chill is set to descend upon Locarno next week, the elegant resort destination with a Mediterranean flair in southern Switzerland, when Locarno on Ice takes over Piazza Grande, the town’s main square. The festival, which runs Dec. 2 through Jan. 9,  follows the rhythm of seasonal celebrations, from the Advent to the Epiphany, with holiday parties on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and  New Year’s Eve.  A beginner's rink will reassure skaters with wobbly legs until, more confident in their balance, they’re able to rub frozen elbows with more experienced peers.

Marc Entin started his ice sculpture business just as the weakened economy melted demand for high-end party decorations. His Newport Beach company, Ice Bulb, has had a hard time selling the ice chandeliers, frozen furniture and ice-ball curtains that he thought would sustain the firm when he founded it 18 months ago. The recession has prompted many of Ice Bulb's potential customers to chip ice sculpture and decor out of their newly squeezed event...

A fight broke out; a jersey got ripped off, then thrown to the ice; a plexiglass screen protecting the fans got smashed by an errant puck. Ah, the pleasures of professional hockey. Maybe the recent game between the Mighty Ducks and Washington Capitals in Anaheim was a little rowdier than most, but not by much. Hockey is rowdy, with even the mascots getting into the act.

Snow, ice and frigid temperatures made driving treacherous Friday and led to a freak accident at Cowboys Stadium that sent six people to the hospital. The injuries ? one of them critical ? were to contractors hired by the NFL to prepare the stadium for Super Bowl XLV. Snow and ice fell from the stadium's roof. None of the injuries was considered life threatening. Meanwhile, as much as five inches of snow fell overnight, leading to canceled and delayed flights and roadways strewn with disabled cars.

You might not suspect from its lovely, breathy lead vocal and deceptively languid, vaguely bossa nova lilt that La Santa Cecilia's latest single, "El Hielo" (ICE) is actually a fiery protest anthem. But this elegant, effortlessly cool track from the L.A. quartet, who recently switched record labels, does indeed take a subtle whack at ICE -- otherwise known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- and Uncle Sam's immigration policy in general. But the Spanish-language track's main mission is to express empathy for Latin American immigrants, including those who were brought as children by their parents to the United States and must live a shadowy existence as second-class citizens in constant fear of deportation.