A Violetville Christmas
Check out the holiday lights by night in Violetville -- Where Baltimore Blooms -- sent to us by the community association's John Tully. Looks like old-timey home movies. Thanks for the smile.
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December 20, 2007
December 19, 2007
Arabbers: City doesn't get it
The city’s handling of the Arabbers continues to be inept and short-sighted. Last week, ponies that had been kept at Pimlico since August, when the city condemned the Retreat Street stable, were moved to a vacant, desolate lot under the Monroe Street bridge in southwest Baltimore. The city seems to be doing all that it can to discourage arabbing in the city and put the produce ponies out to pasture permanently.
This is wrong. This is infuriating. I hate to see problems made out of opportunities, and that’s what has happened here.
So, pardon me while I repeat suggestions:
1. The mayor should announce that she wants the produce ponies to thrive and be smartly showcased around the city.
2. She should appoint a civic-minded business leader to negotiate a new future for the produce ponies, and strike compromises with and oversee the Arabbers.
3. Recruit 50 new ponies and new handlers -- I know plenty of guys looking for the work -- and educate them in the care of the animals.
4. Fix the Retreat Street stables and turn vacant lots into turnouts for the ponies.
5. Build three new stables on the north, south and east sides so that ponies can better serve neighborhoods in those parts of town.
6. Provide produce pony parking spots at the Inner Harbor, near the convention center and hotels. Put them in places where they can wow visitors.
7. Establish a connection between the vendors and local farmers and organic
gardeners.
8. Establish an Arabber museum.
9. Provide retirement stables and pastures for the older ponies.
10. Create "Arabbers Row" outside Orioles and Ravens games so that sports fans can purchase produce on their way home and the ponies can get some mug time on television.
The worst year in Baltimore sports?
We have many reader comments on this subject of 2007 being the worst year for professional sports in Baltimore.
From reader James Sakamoto-Wengel: "I'm not sure if this is the worst Baltimore sports year. I'm thinking that 1969, when the O's lost to the Mets in the World Series and the Colts lost to the Jets in the Super Bowl may have been worse because we were expected to dominate both. Didn't the Bullets lose in the playoffs that same year? I also think it's ironic that we lose to an 0-13 team right after the team announces Billick will return next season shortly after the 30-3 Orioles' loss following the announcement that Trembley will be back as manager in 2008. Apparently, the Gods didn't agree with either decision . . ."
I think, some time toward the end of their time in Baltimore -- 1981? 1982? -- the Colts had a worse record than the Ravens will finish with this year. But the Orioles were still contenders. So that sort of made up for it. There was at least one team that did OK.
This year? In 2007, the Orioles' had their 10th straight losing season and dropped one to the Texas Rangers, 30-3. With the Ravens loss to the 0-13 Dolphins today, this might be the worst year in the history of professional sports in Baltimore. (If you'd like to compare notes on that, please post to this blog.)
December 14, 2007
The Hopkins Hospital Dome
Hopkins Medicine has launched an effort to sell some of the remaining original slate tiles from the historic Johns Hopkins Hospital Dome to help fund the restoration of a Habitat for Humanity rowhouse on Washington Street in East Baltimore. Amazing that the tiles remained on the Dome for 116 years, until an exterior restoration in 2005. The original pieces came from the Peach Bottom Slate quarries that stretched from York and Lancaster counties, Pa., to Harford County. These once were suppliers of the finest slate tile in the world.
Make 'em wear an asterisk
ALL I can say is: If baseball players like those named yesterday want to put steroids and other performance-enhancing substances into their bodies, it's their stupid business. But when those still active play, they should be made to wear uniforms with big asterisks next to their numbers.
And excuse me, but the Orioles on this list -- I don't even know half of these guys. Did we really have a Ricky Bones? (Senator Mitchell named so many names in this report that he appears to have included a character from Muppet Treasure Island.)
More to the point, all kidding aside. Aren't performance-enhancing drugs supposed to enhance, you know, performance? May it please the court, and even if it doesn't -- consider the Orioles' show in the standings over the last 10 years . . . Case dismissed! (Peter Angelos -- there's your defense. That'll be $5,000 please.)
December 13, 2007
Nutcracker mood? Cue the mice!
Baltimore County Youth Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker Suite is "specifically geared for children . . . slightly shorter in length than most, yet retains the lavish sets, costumes and fantasy typical of this ballet." More than 70 kids, from 8 to 18, were chosen at audition from the Baltimore area.
Saturday, December 15, 2007, at 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 16, 2007, at 3 PM
All tickets $15, reserved seating
New Town High School, 4931 New Town Boulevard. Owings Mills. MD 21117
Call 410-521-4714
Laura Gurdus Dolid, who staged this production, is on the dance faculty of Goucher College, The Sudbrook Arts Centre, UMBC, Peabody Preparatory and also directs the Baltimore County Youth Ballet. Established in 1990, the Baltimore County Youth Ballet, a part of The Sudbrook Arts Centre, Gail Schaefer, Director, is sponsored by: Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks, Pikesville Recreation and Parks Council, Maryland State Arts Council and The Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.
Baltimore's water supply
Baltimore's water supply, built over a 50-year period of the 20th Century, remains an enginering wonder -- three major reservoirs backed up by a 38-mile pipeline from the Susquehanna River (see second item in today's column). Here, from the city's Department of Public Works, are some facts about the three main watersheds and dam operations:
Loch Raven Reservoir
Elevation above mean sea level 240 feet
Spillway length 288 feet
Total length 650 feet
Height of crest above stream bed 82 feet
Length of shore line at crest elevation 50 miles
Area of land owned 8,000 acres
Flooded area at crest elevation 2,400 acres
Initial storage capacity: 23 billion gallons
Water surface: 2,400 acres
Crest elevation: 240 feet above mean sea level
Area of watershed: 233 square miles
Built 1912 – 1914 (elevation 188 feet)
Crest raised 52 feet: 1921 – 1922 (elevation 240 feet)
Overflowed crest first time: May, 1923
Liberty Reservoir
Elevation above mean sea level 420 feet
Spillway length 480 feet
Total length 704 feet
Height of crest above stream bed 160 feet
Length of shore line at crest elevation 82 miles
Area of land owned 9,200 acres
Flooded area at crest elevation 3,100 acres
Initial storage capacity: 43 billion gallons
Crest elevation: 420 feet above mean sea level
Area of watershed: 164 square miles
Built: 1951 – 1954
Overflowed crest first time February 6, 1956
Prettyboy Reservoir
Elevation above mean sea level 520 feet
Spillway length 274 feet
Total length 845 feet
Height of crest above stream bed 130 feet
Length of shore line at crest elevation 46 miles
Area of land owned 7,380 acres
Flooded area at crest elevation 1,500 acres
Initial storage capacity: 20 billion gallons
Crest elevation: 520 feet above mean sea level
Area of watershed: 80 square miles
Construction completed: 1933
Overflowed crest first time September 23, 1933
December 12, 2007
Who's on first? Mr. Civility!
The rules of civility dictate that we hold our tongue when others are engaged in uncivil behavior -- particularly if what we are moved to say would serve only as an accelerant. Just today, a Sun colleague was tempted to stick his nose where it didn't belong (described below). He gets a crown of laurels for restraining his sarcastic wit and remaining mum, a very civilized thing to do under the circumstances.
"A guy in my neighborhood drug store today was having a very angry confrontation with the checkout clerk over I dunno what," our friend writes. "She is one of the many Russian-speakers in our neck of the woods, but I don't think that was the problem. The guy threatened to charge her with assault and he kept asking, 'What's the name of your supervisor? . . . 'What's the name of your supervisor!?' I carefully refrained from interjecting, 'No, What's the name of the fella on second base."
Good choice. Not very exciting, holding tongue like that. But very civil.
Wet leaves and leaf blowers
The streets of city and 'burb are still filled with leaves -- they fell late this year and, if homeowners didn't rake them up before December, they became damp and heavy, hard to pick up and bag. I've notice guys from landscaping and lawn-maintenance companies out with leaf blowers this week, attacking for hours at a time big piles and long slicks of wet leaves on driveways and in gutters. It's as if they're trying to blow-dry them before raking them.
Westport champs get the boot
This was a lovely story until we heard that the Westport Patriots were among three Pop Warner teams involved in a fight in Florida, resulting in Disney resorts officials giving the entire team and its families the boot in the middle of the night. The other two teams were the Kahalu'u He'eia Broncos and the Wai'anae Tigers, both from Hawaii.
Here's a thorough report on the mess by Peter Boylan in the Honolulu Advertiser
BACKGROUND: The Pop Warner team from Westport won their Super Bowl in Florida on Friday. The Westport Patriots, 24 Westport and Mt. Winans boys between the ages of 11 and 14 , beat the Suncoast Bucs, 27-8, in at the Disney sports complex in Orlando, winning the Pop Warner Super Bowl, Midget division. "The team has overcome many obstacles including the lack of a football field, training equipment, uniforms, and storage and meeting facilities," said a handout from the team. "Many Westport Patriots live in difficult environments and for most of these boys and girls, it was the first time that they traveled out of the area."
The team is coached by Marty Williams, Westport resident and former college player, along with six other volunteers.
Baltimore City paid for the team to travel by bus to Orlando and Turner Development Group provided funds for uniforms, travel and other team expenses.
Here's an earlier Sun story on the team.
Here's a story from the Sarasota Herald Tribune on the big game.
Goof is on the Roof
This Just In , from Tony Lombardi's Ravens web site:
Ravens' fan vows not to come down until the Ravens win or Brian Billick is fired, whichever comes first. Details here: Baltimore Ravens News - GOOF ON THE ROOF
I heard Billick last night
I heard the head coach of the Ravens say on the radio last night that it "wouldn't be fair" to start Troy Smith at quarterback this week, and that it "wouldn't be fair" to the team. It's not going to happen, the head coach said.
What I heard him really say was: "Look, I haven't played the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner all season, and I'm not going to let the kid get in a game and throw three touchdowns against the Dolphins and make me look like a further fool for not having even belched in his general direction. . . Plus, we lose to Miami and I'm toast."
December 11, 2007
Never say never
You'll be pleased to know that most reader feedback on Sunday's column, it turns out, was not all negative and sneering and laced with bigotry . . .
"This city needs to wake up and shout about it's current and potential greatness. We need a first class big league arena with or without the NBA or NHL. Big time concerts, NCAA Conventions, U of M, Ice shows, circuses. We can and must do it!" -- Russ Karpook---------------I was born in Baltimore and have lived in Anne Arundel County for most of my 64 years. I think Baltimore is or could be as great of a city as many others in this country but the leadership continues to hold back on pushing it to its full potential. Please continue to champion this cause. Perhaps by doing so you may unearth some current day leaders with the same foresight that was needed by those that were responsible for the inner harbor. -- Rick Schimpf-------------------
I enjoyed your column about building a new arena for Baltimore. I wholeheartedly agree that if we are to build a new arena, we should go all the way. I'm a die-hard hockey fan (I love the Washington Capitals) and I would get behind an NBA team. There's no reason why Baltimore has to be a second-class city. If Cleveland can support an NBA team and minor league hockey, we can do at least as well. -- Zeb Snyder----------------Baltimore has precedent in defying "logic" when it comes to attracting a sports team. When the St. Louis Browns were attracted in 1954, it was at a time when baseball's sights were set on wide-open untapped markets in the west: Milwaukee, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Yet the Orioles found home and success in close proximity to baseball teams in Philadelphia (both the Phillies and Athletics at the time) and Washington.Whether or not Baltimore can attract an NBA or NHL team in the near term, Baltimore could still receive some benefit from "putting itself out there" as a prospective home. Tourism commissions and economic agencies invest in promotional campaigns and materials from time to time. Perhaps such groups in Baltimore should develop some materials to advance Baltimore as an NBA or NHL destination simply for the publicity it would garner for the city. When economically up and coming cities such as Las Vegas are mentioned as possible homes for basketball and hockey teams, it would probably not hurt Baltimore to be mentioned in those ranks (better that than to foster the incorrect impression that many have that it is some kind of rust belt city).Other considerations:The competion for programming between MASN and Comcast Sportsnet could provide a strong local revenue opportunity for a team in Baltimore (and MASN is in need of stronger winter season programming).Another east coast team could make for attractive travel logistics for leagues that would like to give players an extended break from itineraries that otherwise involve long-distance jet travel (a New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington road trip could be attractive to teams).The NHL probably has a lessened disincentive for expansion in that its national TV revenues are insignificant, so owners would be less impacted by splitting their share of national TV revenue with additional teams. The NHL in the past year has even raised the prospect of expanding to Las Vegas and Kansas City.While the NHL might be concerned about the impact on the Capitals, hockey in the Washington media has been treated as a fringe sport, almost akin to indoor soccer or indoor lacrosse. If there was a team in Baltimore that was met with a lot of enthusiasm and a rivalry developed, it would legitmize professional hockey in the Mid-Atlantic and help Washingtonians take more notice of the sport (particularly of the Washington Post, in attempting to appeal to Maryland readers paid more attention to a two-team dynamic).While Las Vegas is always prominently mentioned as an NBA or NHL site there are always two concerns that might be hard to overcome: gambling and its impact on sports (NBA's recent issue with a referee) and the challenge of competing with all the over entertainment options in the area (and that a lot of people work nights and weekends in supporting the casinos).I am a Northern Virginia resident that has longed for baseball in Washington, so I can appreciate the frustration when experts decide an area cannot support or should not have a team. Again, I appreciate your recent columns to direct attention to this issue. -- Glenn Bucek
Shorty's pit beef
The end of the day is lovely at Shorty's pit beef stand on Falls Road -- at least it was the day we were there. Shorty still had some delicious barbecue beef and chicken to serve, and he put the holiday lights on in the dining area and gave a female customer a rose. Shorty, a good-natured fellow who has been pit-grillin' for several years, moved to the gas station and country store, at a bend just north of Padonia Road, a few years ago. He'll close for the holidays soon and reopen after the turn of the year. I'm telling you, his barbecued chicken breast was out of this world -- smokey and seasoned just right, and still juicy at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
December 10, 2007
Bruce at the new arena
First letter from a reader this morning, commenting on Sunday's column, is good for a smile:
"Hi Dan: I'm a white guy who grew up right on the city line. About 20 years ago, I was attacked on an MTA bus (thankfully no serious damage; he was drunk, and I wasn't), but if I'd given up on the city because of it, I'd have missed a lot of great things and so would the kids I have now. My wife and I had our first date at the old Cultured Pearl and the pre-renovation Charles theater and we've been married 14 years next month.
"I saw what the harbor looked like before it was fixed up, and I used to pick up deliveries at one of the nasty warehouses that stood somehere in what is now Camden Yards.
There will always be people who think small and believe that all efforts to improve things will fail. They have made AM talk radio unlistenable. Don't let them get you down, and please keep on reminding us that it's better to try. One day I want to hear Springsteen sing, 'I've got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack,' here instead of down in DC.'"
-- William Lynch
December 9, 2007
New arena and everything else
Some readers are upset with me for advocating a new sports and entertainment arena for downtown Baltimore at a time when we still have all those problems -- poverty, crime, homelessness, a low high school graduation rate.
This is not an either/or thing, my righteous friends. We don't drop what we're doing on these fronts to build an arena. We do everything.
Today's column officially ends my acceptance of never thinking about my adopted hometown -- that it will never have 850,000 residents again, another major sports franchise and a new downtown arena, plus a generational reduction in poverty and crime, adequate housing for the city's chronically and episodically homeless, and a high school graduation rate comparable to those in wealthier, more stable suburbs. We're going to reach a point in the next 20 years where the city will become home, out of necessity and desire, to thousands of more residents, and failure on these fronts will no longer be accepted. Never happen? Never say never.
10:40 am: The first reader response received here today is like several e-mails that have the worst kind of negative thinking about the city, infested with racism. It's really a shame that a discussion about an issue of public interest -- a new arena in Baltimore being of value to the entire region -- goes here first (at least with some people).
Here's another example: "As somebody who went to many Skipjack games, I would NEVER take my family to that hellhole known as Baltimore………..i would NEVER go with my buddies either…. I don’t need to risk getting knocked over the head to see a game in person……with everything going on with certain blacks crying WOLF (emt, bus attackers, samari) , you are writing about joining a AA hockey league where the closest rival is the capital of new jersey. I guess you have nothing to say….on a side note, do you think rolle would have made such a big ta-do if the ref had called him “seizure boy”? I find that much more offensive but I would bet he wouldn’t…..but as always, I could be wrong. Merry Christmas."
December 7, 2007
Nine deer at sunset
I spent most of Thursday at a country place, 28 miles from Baltimore's Inner Harbor, out near the Prettyboy watershed. The farm was covered with about six inches of cottony snow, and little curds of it balanced on the thinnest branches of trees and bushes. Ten black turkey vultures gathered on the high, naked limbs of tall oaks across the road -- like enrobed judges in a balcony at a grand opera. And then, every once in a while, two or three of them would drop off, spread their wide wings and glide across the blue sky, the breezes holding them aloft as they circled over the old farm.
I walked to my car to leave the place about 4:30, just a few minutes before sunset, and first one, then two deer appeared -- almost in full silhouette at that hour - against a snow-covered hill between woods about 150 yards away. Then a third came out of the trees, then a fourth, a fifth-sixth together, a seventh and an eighth and a ninth. Just like that. A Supreme Court of deer walked across snow as I walked to my car at dusk. They looked as though they had spent the day in hiding; they must have been relieved to see that I wasn't holding a rifle. The rules of the Maryland deer season stipulate specific killing time -- one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset. So, at the moment I saw these deer, they were still very much at risk. They moved into the next patch of woods and out of sight. I headed home -- driving into rush-hour traffic and its own kind of risk -- and, as you can see, I lived to tell about it.
December 6, 2007
St. Nicholas Day memory
My pal Frank The Fifth Beatle shared this memory of St. Nicholas Day (December 6) in the old neighborhood of East Baltimore:
"This was always a big day back in the old neighborhood. Kids of Eastern European descent got a stocking full of goodies 19 days prior to Christmas. But the big event was at Saint Wenceslaus School. Every year on this day the nuns would get the biggest kid in the 8th grade to dress up like the devil (pretty wicked outfit; pitchfork and all). The devil would burst into the lower grade classrooms one at a time and taunt the students for a minute or so until Saint Nicholas (played by Brother Ulrich, who had served in the Kaiser's Army; he made the vestments for the priests so his outfit was pretty authentic) arrived at the door and would command the devil in Czech to begone. Saint Nick would then distribute candy to the children.
"It is now a very cherished memory of my childhood. I'm sure that no other school today remembers Saint Nicholas in the same way. 2007 child psychologists would be horrified at the thought of such a scenario. However, I assure you that every Saint Wenceslaus graduate would fondly recall Brother Ulrich, aka Saint Nicholas, the nuns, and the devil on this special day.
"My Mom had to go into assisted living in October of this year. Since 1946, when my oldest brother was born, she and my dad always made sure Saint Nicholas visited the children and grandchildren. After a 61-year run of helping Saint Nick, it's time that she gets a rest. So, at 6 am this morning, Saint Nick made a trip to Saint Stephen's Green Mercy Ridge to leave a stocking on her doorknob. It's the least I could do after all of these years of my parents' generosity."
Build a new arena: Get Arena Football
This just in, from Chris McCloskey, executive vice-president for communications of the Arena Football League:
Saw your article today about a new arena in Baltimore and felt your frustration.
A new arena would also likely spark an AFL expansion team in the city. The league considers three criteria when expanding:
1) Is it a good football market?... Baltimore is legendary, obviously.
2) Is there a viable arena? … Not currently.
3) Is there quality and committed ownership? … Almost certainly with the emergence of an economically viable arena.
An AFL team’s guaranteed eight home dates are not the same as 40+ for an NBA or NHL team, but there is a chance the team may host up to two additional playoff games and the possibility of the city hosting an ArenaBowl, which carries an economic impact of $15-20 million.
Obviously an AFL team would be one of many benefits to having a new arena.
Build a new arena: Reasons 14 & 15
14. Arena Football League -- check out the cities that have franchises now. Let's get one, and I'll be the first to buy a season ticket.
15. National Lacrosse League -- Oh, please. This should be a no-brainer for the Cap City of Lacrosse: Let's get a franchise, and I'll be the first to buy a season ticket.
Build a new arena: Reasons 11, 12, 13
11. Bruce Springsteen
12. Garth Brooks
13. Van Halen