Wander Minnesota: Omnifest!

If it's January, it must be that time of year. No, I'm not talking about weather, it's time for St. Paul's Science Museum of Minnesota's Omnifest! The festival starts this Friday, Jan. 7, and runs through Feb. 17. Plan ahead and pre-order tickets -- this is a popular event.

As always, the Science Museum has a diverse and highly regarded collection of films to enjoy while wallowing in the expansive Omnitheater. Really, this is one of the best ways to ignore the weather and avoid cabin fever.

Hubble, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, takes you into the universe via 20 years' worth of images collected by the Hubble telescope. The Omnitheater's enormous screen is the perfect venue for getting immersed in space.

The Old Man and the Sea is actually two films in one. The first is a quick bio of Hemingway, followed by an Academy Award-winning hand-painted animated telling of the classic novel. I saw this at a preview recently, and the animation is stunning. The credits give you a glimpse of the artist at work, hand painting the story.

Tropical Rainforest is a Science Museum original film that travels to Australia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, and Malaysia to learn more about the world of rainforests and the ecosystems found there. (This would be especially comforting on a cold day!)

Sea Monsters explores the history of marine reptiles of the dinosaur age, including the 40-foot predator Tylosaurus, also known as the T Rex of the ocean.

Wild Safari moves out of the ocean and rainforests and into African nature reserves in search of wild animals, including elephants, rhinos, leopards and lions.

And don't forget -- when Omnifest closes, you'll have a great reason to return to the Science Museum: the King Tut exhibit opens Feb. 18.

What else is happening in our state? Be sure to check out the 10 p.m. Sunday night WCCO newscasts, where you can learn more in the weekly segment, Finding Minnesota.