I still think the Baltimore Essentials is a good topic. You also may want to rethink your title in the print version. Something like, "10 in Baltimore" for example. Dropping the "Top" may alleviate some of the outrage from the uninitiated, though I doubt it. You should also make sure there are no numbers on the list, otherwise you'll have another Deli Debacle.

There weren't any numbers on the deli list, that's what's so weird. EL

Places that make you feel like you're not in Baltimore? For the launch of a sinking enterprise that is desperately trying to reinvent its Baltimore-specific brand? Uh, why not just slap yourself silly? Sounds like a terrible idea from a self-preservation stand-point.

This suggestion is a total sellout and therefore might be a good choice: Top Ten Places to Propose. Marriage, I suppose. I feel a little nauseous now. I guess you could be creative with it, there seem to be so many cliche ways and places.

Deli Debacle? Nah. When people argue and rant about a list then you have done your job in selling papers/blog hits. Controversy=dollars.

10 in Baltimore? Snooze.

I don't know what the reinvention is going to be, but I'm guessing that part of the mission statement does not say, "Let's be more bland and less controversial." Outrage is attention and attention is money. Money money money! Yeah! I also humbly request that like this post all future posts include a hot babe with the food.

All of the things you are worried about are justified. The great thing about blogs are their off the cuff feel. Once you start editing and changing it because it's going into print...it loses some of that.

I am a bit partial to online content...since i write a music blog myself. But i find it ironic that national papers are now trying to adopt the blog type feel into print. seems kind of backwards. but i can see why they are doing it (trying to be hip and "with it")

I say you just still keep doing what your doing. don't change a thing...who cares if it's going into print.

the worst thing is if this turned into less of an open discussion. just my take.

not sure it even made sense.

If you want to bring in readers and stress that the Top 10 is a starting point, you could call it the Topless 10...

If you are trendy, then you cannot be ultra-cool. So the suggestion doesn't even make sense to me. Baltimore is plenty trendy - that is, following trends. Maybe she is looking more for trend-setting??

But the real question is, why would you want to feel like you're not in Baltimore? Doesn't her whole question imply that Baltimore is un-cool? I resent that!

Why not go the other way around and do the top ten restaurants that let you know you're in Baltimore? More like a Baltimore Landmarks vibe than the less positive directions it could go -- it could even be in honor of Martick's. Seems like a nice inaugural issue sort of thing to do.

This may be a bit unconventional of a Top 10 suggestion, but what about Top 10 foods to eat at the fair?

Was there ever a Top 10 on best places to shop for ethnic ingredients? Top Ethnic grocers, perhaps? Some of us readers cook as much (if not more) as we dine out. I know I would love to find a few more places to find kaffir lime leaves other than H Mart (when they carry them) and Whole Foods (with their highway robbery prices.)

I don't know what the reinvention is supposed to be or what its target is, but let me guess: eye-catching, ADD, flashier, shorter stories, hipper, skewing younger and higher income, as well as simultaneously skewing stupider, more sensational, cheaper to produce, and more sports-oriented. Am I close? Probably, that seems to be the trend with most mass media.

The Top Ten has always been geared to the masses. Keep it that way. It's an arbitrary list - so be it. People are riled up by the most mundane topics because they are accessible. Top ten places to get foie gras? Poo. You want to hook the readers with flashy bait, not exotic stuff they know nothing about. There is plenty of room for the exotic in the blog. Hook people with flashy, controversial and accessible. Top Ten beers that go with burgers. Top Ten celebrity chefs. Ugh, it's exhausting. People do love lists though and they love to hate them. Hate is attention and that's a blog hit. Top Ten places to go after an O's game. Before one. During one. Give the people what they want. I guarantee they don't want smarty-pants crosswords. Top ten things to put on a burger: ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, mayo, mango chutney. See the mango chutney is in there to rile people up. Mango chutney? That's ridiculous! There's no such thing as bad publicity for a blog. Did you see what that idiot wrote about mongrel chimneys and burgers? She's nuts! Yeah, Dining@Large in the Sun. Check it out.

Am I cynical? Hell yeah, that's just business. TCB

To keep the alliteration, how about "Try Ten?"

For those of us like Bucky, Rob in PCB and me in PBC, I hope the "print version" which is available on-line reflects some of the changes, especially your "star" turn.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! I'm already in hate with recent changes to The Sun. I can't imagine "reinvention" will improve it.

Ryan97ou makes a terrific point. A blog is spontaneous by nature. Editing it for print blows the spontaneity, so why not just publish it "as is."

Finally, I second Jamaila's suggestion of Bawlmer landmark restaurants. They're dropping like flies, so let's honor them while we have them.

Owl Meat never ceases to amaze and entertain. Thanks!

Yes, I'd like to see what the "new and improved" Sun does, especially if it puts our Most Exalted and Revered Leader out in the forefront!

Buena Suerte!

I second jamaila. How about the
quintessential Baltimore restaurants?
However, the list will now be harder with Martick's gone.
There are still other's that 'say' Baltimore however.

Speaking of Bucky, where has he been?

hope he's not tracking me down. anyway, I'm not on Google Maps or Google Earth, yet.

Essentials would be easy and popular (and spark the requisite controversy, per OMG's astute analysis).

what exactly is the "talk back" feature?

LJ, I'm willing to bet that the "talk back" feature is a way for the Sun to provide content without having to pay for it.

Not sure where this topic is going but, how about top 10 places to get cold food on hot days?

Ten places to get snowcones?

They are just ideas for the "Ten" list

What about "10 in Town"? If you want to avoid "controversy" add a disclaimer that all places are listed alphabetically. You can i.d. your favorite if want to keep the rants.

Crayons, lots of crayons. That's the reinvented way to present the news. The medium will match the message: dumbed down, but colourful. And Dahlink, you are right about talk back: printed version of the blog entries. We'll be famous. One question: given the reduced number of pages in the New Sun, how are they going to deal with a posting that gets fifty or more hits, or God forbid, Spring1 comes back?

Did you guys beat Spring1 to death before I could get a whack at her? Darn. You snooze, you lose. Come back Spring1!

Aren't the letters to the editor already enough of a crackpot forum? You guys may get famous from printed blog entries, but I doubt any of mine will ever make it. Besides, printing blog entries seems stupid and a little irresponsible since we are semi-anonymous. I think that they only print LTTEs after verification of identity. Snipping off pieces of what blooms here will just create flowers of evil. Print that Helios Screed!

When you think about it, there are not that many local writers needed for a crappy paper. The restaurant critic is one of the few that can only be local. The movie critic doesn't need to be (sorry). They already got rid of the local TV/TV news critic; I miss him. Some sports, but not all needs to be local. And local news. And some local features writing about events and such. And this comb. And this chair. Mmmmm ... velvet.

OK, listen up. I've got a big announcement to make.

After a great deal of research into the Dining@Large readership, I have decided to reinvent myself. Going forward I will be "Robert from the Big Rectangular State" and will cease using "Bucky" as my D@L blogging identity. (Because I type with only two fingers and operate the space bar with my thumb, I will likely use the abbreviation "Robert from TBRS" to save keystrokes.)

Through this reinvention (it is NOT merely a redesign) I hope to:

1. Drive readership and engagement with my comments

2. Acquire new readers while engaging old ones

3. Acknowledge other commenters' busy lives and evolving interests and,

4. Create comments that are smart, modern, visually appealing and uniquely Balti...no, wait. Scratch this one.

(As a part of this reinvention, my subsidiary commenter will henceforth be identified as "Charles from TBRS.")

This reinvention is effective immediately, because I'm not interested in dying by a thousand cuts.

Thank you.

Welcome to the Robert Club. We can always use new members, and as you have seen, qualifying is not that hard (hell, if it was hard, I would never have made it in.)

Can also we expect Egbert from TBRS, Ethelbert, and Dogbert?

Bucky/Robert from TBRS -- in the spirit of The Sun becoming something more akin to USA Today, a/k/a McPaper, perhaps you should rebrand yourself as McRobert.

I can't get past that picture. It looks like she is recoiling from sitting on a wet stool.

I agree with your assessment of the proposed topic. In tough times, turn to your muse, which in my case would be bacon.

Bob UU, are you saying we need a Top 10 places to get bacon?

Hmm...how about Top 10 side dishes?

Thanks to all of you for giving me some smiles through the tears.

hmpstd - I'll save McRobert for the next reinvention. And, yes, there will be another. (Sorry Sun worshippers, but I've gone through three LBOs in my career. Even though this feels like the end, it's just the beginning.)

It could be worse. Y'all could be rabid, 4th generation Chicago Cubs fans.

(Fed Hill Jim is exempted from that last comment...he's more than a reader/subscriber.)

If the talk back feature consists of printing what goes on in this space, I have two words to say about it::

Schrodinger's Cat.

I have a sign on my wall:

Schrödinger's Cat

WANTED FOR:
Quantum Indeterminancy

{Drawing of cat, front and side, against height bar}

Dead or Alive

I looked up Schrödinger's Cat and I have to say I still don't understand what you guys are talking about.

Whatever happened to arguing about, like, whether Cheez Whiz is really food?

Whiz-inator, just as the Israelites wandered in the desert, the inhabitants of the Sandbox often wander in strange and wonderful diredtions. And since you asked, since one could live on Cheez Whiz, it is a "food." And if you like your Cheesesteak "wid everyt'ing," it is an indispensible food.

Bleh, Cheese Whiz isn't food, it's more like a food-shaped object.

Cheez Whiz has no shape.

Real cheesesteaks don't use Cheez Whiz.

Kraft Cheez Whiz

INGREDIENTS: Whey, Canola Oil, Milk Protein Concentrate, Maltodextrin, Sodium Phosphate, Contains Less than (2%) of Whey Protein Concentrate, Salt, Lactic Acid, Sodium, Alginate, Mustard Flour, Worcestershire Sauce (Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor), Sorbic Acid as a Preservative, Milkfat, Cheese Culture, Oleoresin Paprika (Color), Annatto (Color), Natural Flavor, Enzymes.

All food. Not so scary after all. Plus it has my favorite stealth ingredient: Tamarind! And Worcestershire sauce ... huh ... unexpected.

Doesn't it call itself a "cheese product" or some such fudging term?

Pat's or Gino's cheese steaks just wouldn't be what they are without the Whiz. Long live the Whiz.

Whiz - this is way simplified but one idea posited in the paradox of Schroedinger's Cat is that the measurement of an experiment cannot be done without the observer interfering with the experiment and perhaps influencing the outcome.

This is particularly true with things constantly in flux, which is everything, including this blog. If everything is in flux, but can only be observed in a resting state, then are you really observing it?

Hal VoR - if cheese whiz is a liquid, can it be a food-shaped object?

Everyone, I didn't mean to start an argument. It was just an example.

Joyce W, Pat's prefers Cheez Whiz. Geno's will put it on if you want. They recommend American or Provolone. I don't understand quantum mechanics but I eat at Pat's and Geno's often.

LJ and Retired in Elkridge, you guys are smarter than I will ever be. Now I have to go look up Israelites wandering in the desert and what the word posited means.

Retired - your poster cracked me up. Reminded me of the "Philosophy of Science" seminar I took in college, where I heard about that cat. I haven't thought about that cat in a long time, now my head is spinning (or is that the Maker's Mark?)

What did you do before you were retired? Does that explain the sign on your wall? If not, what is your interest in quantum physics?

BG, don't tell me you're also a physicist!
That would be one more image shattered.

LJ I think you're thinking of the Heisengberg Uncertainty Printciple.

OMG I would agree both are uncertainty principles manifested by the observer effect. Either one would probably do in this instance; the cat is more interesting, however.

But what do I know, I was an English major.

I never really got the cat thing, but I have anthropomorphized HUP to justify a lot of quasi-anti-social behavior on my part, as in don't take my picture with your damned phone.

Whiz-inator, a lot of posts veer off into directions where barely one person knows what they're talking about by the end. It's the entropy of the blog. I only know about that physics concept because Thomas Pynchon wrote a story about a party out of control called "Entropy". As the universe expands disorder becomes greater. (I think).

BG, I started off as an electronics engineer, but spent the last twenty or so years in Product Assurance (Quality, Reliability, etc.) for the US Government. Basically trying to keep the contractors honest.

OMG - I never got the cat thing 100% either, but I think that was the point... Schrodinger was trying to get everyone used to the fact that you can't get everything. Right, Retired?

I never thought of using quantum physics as excuse for quasi-anti-social behavior, but I intend to the next time I am faced with a happy hour invitation I can't quite deal with for one reason or another. I can out-do you on that front any day Owlie, but thanks for the tip.

Well, I for one am really looking forward to this proactive paradigm shift of the New Sun.

I do have one question, however, and perhaps it is more of a rant. How can something be marketed to the upper-income but also to the short-attention span and dim-witted populace? Would it not seem reasonable that the upper-income would be more educated, and hence more interested in intellectual stimulus? Now, I know some of the Marxists or shall I say Fabians on this blog will make some argument about how intellectuals are not rewarded in a market economy, and perhaps that is true; however, at the very least I would say that the bright are better off, financially, than the dullards.

RC, Entropy (chaos) is always rising. Eventually the entire universe will be homogenous, with no pertubations like stars, planets, or people. Or, as I've heard the Laws of Thermodynamics put:
1. You can't win,
2. You can't break even, and
3. You can't get out of the game.

BoG, I hope I'm not going too far out an a limb here (correct me someone please) but Schrödinger's thought experiment (no cats were harmed in thinking about this experiment) illustrates one of the principles of Quantum Mechanics: That probabilities play a role in our everyday experiences. When you have perfect 50 - 50 probabilities, until you make an observation both probabilities exist with equal chance at the same time. The cat is both dead and alive. As you implied, you can't know everything all the time.

Thanks RiE, that makes sense. Ah, and the final missing piece of comprehending probability densities and electrons from freshman year is finally in place. Duh.

Retired in Elkridge, your explanation is clearer than what I read before. You should write a text book.