There are many good Paul Newman movies and many good moments of Paul Newman in mediocre movies, but, for me, he rose to true greatness, and the movie with him, in The Verdict, 1982. I frequently hear people say what I say -- Newman should have won an Oscar for his role as the alcoholic attorney trying to finally do the right thing -- to regain his self-worth and to achieve justice for a Boston family victimized by medical malpractice. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet, working with a David Mamet screenplay. There was an excellent cast -- Jack Warden, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling, Milo O'Shea -- but Newman gave his greatest of all performances, as Frank Galvin, shaking with doubt, trying to claw his way out of a bottle to win a case for the family of a young woman left in a coma during an operation in a Catholic hospital. In the jungle of his fears, Galvin finds what E.B. White called "the flashy tail feathers of the bird courage." He was nominated that year for best actor, and that turned out to be his sixth unsuccessful career nomination. (Ben Kingsley won it, for Ghandi.) If you can rent a single Newman film tonight, to remember him, try The Verdict. (If you're a Verdict fan, by all means, send along a comment. If you'd like to argue for another "Newman's Best," have at it.)

When the holy-rollers said no to Newman

Ten years ago, Paul Newman was scheduled to make a movie on a Virginia island in the Chesapeake Bay but a Christian fundamentalist uprising killed the idea. Tangier's born-again Christian elected leaders said no to Warner Bros.' proposal to film some scenes from Message in a Bottle, which was to co-star Newman and Kevin Costner. I worked this story at the time.
"Each member of the town council read the script independently and, without any discussion, the vote [against the movie] was unanimous, 6-0,"  Mayor Dewey Crockett told me. "The objections were in three categories -- language, sex and alcoholic beverages. There was a lot of raunchy language and seven or eight sex scenes. And we have a dry town here."
Still, Newman was cool about the rejection. He'd been booked for a private tour of Tangier and took it anyway. Two charter boat captains in Crisfield, Keith Ward and Curtis Johns, gave the
actor a ride to the island and escorted him to the hardware store. Newman toured the island
in a rented golf cart and left after about two hours, declaring Tangier one of
the most beautiful places he'd ever visited.
Why did Newman make the trip? Nobody seemed to know. Perhaps he felt obligated because, despite the town council vote, a lot of people wanted to see Message in a Bottle filmed on Tangier.
My contact on the story was Wallace Pruitt, who ran Shirley's Bay View Inn with his wife. "People are really tore up about it," he said.
The film was shot on location in North Carolina.
It was rated PG-13.

Newman and life

Here's a quote from Paul Newman, expressing something too few of the smug and self-satisfied in Hollywood, in Washington and on Wall Street ever own up to: "I want to acknowledge luck -- the chance and benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, who might not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Results from instant polling -- conducted by text message and on-line during the debate -- by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion shows Obama having scored effectively among independent voters on almost every subject touched on last night. Check it out at www.mediacurves.com 

Glenn Kessler, left, president and CEO of HCD, which is a web-based research company in Flemington, N.J., had 2,000 people standing by last night with cell phones and laptops so they could score the candidates, question by question, answer by answer, instantly. I spoke to Kessler Wednesday on Midday. (You can hear a podcast of the conversation in the last 10 minutes of my hour with the Sun's David Zurawik.) Kessler's company has hooked up with Muhlenberg College to conduct the survey and others on the campaign. They want to gather instant public opinion, before the Olbermanns and other talking heads start spinning and telling viewers what they just heard. Kessler's firm paid people to respond to text messages or pop-ups on their laptops. Polls, surveys, focus groups -- each method of measuring opinion has problems associated with it. But this certainly seems far more precise than, say, people calling into a television network (or the Drudge Report) to say who won. That might be a good measure of who's popular on American Idol, but not how Americans feel about a candidate's response to a particular question.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Obama certainly made it clear that he's conversant and nuanced in foreign policy, but McCain finished strongly and deflected deftly Obama's attempts to associate him with George Bush. McCain was tougher than Obama.

Just now I spoke with Herb Smith, the astute political science professor from McDaniel College in Maryland and one of our keenest political observers. "Eight times, Obama said something like, 'Senator McCain is right, or John is right,' and that is unprecedented in a presidential debate," Smith said. "You don't do that in a debate. By contrast, I counted McCain saying, 'What Senator Obama doesn't understand . . .' about six or seven times, suggesting his naivete in foreign policy. McCain stayed on point, stayed on message."

So Obama was too nice again, too gracious. "He bent over backwards so far," says Smith, "he almost fell on his face. His media handlers should be taking him to the woodshed for that."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

I'm getting some feedback on the debate from readers now.

From Joe Outside The Beltway: "How’s this for arrogance? I see no need to watch the debate and am avoiding all reporting on it.  I have nothing more to learn.   Senator  McBush is an impulsive, irrational “shoot-from-the hip” representative of a political party that has done enormous harm to our country, and that should be run out of town at the first opportunity -- coming up soon.  It is astounding that so many Americans seem unable to grasp this. You see how arrogant I am?   I might watch Palin (McBush’s most irrational act ever!) simply for the (tragic) humor in it."

 Here's Lisa, also not watching: "These debates are only worthwhile if you've been living in a cave and know nothing about either candidate.  How can anyone possibly be on the fence or undecided at this point? What kind of a moron are you if you're still undecided about two such entirely opposite candidates, two such entirely opposite philosophies, this late in the game??   Lemme guess -- the kind who brought us 8 years of George Bush! It's all pre-programmed talking points.  I know which candidate I'm voting for, and I don't need these stage-managed 'debates' to tell me anything else about him or his hapless opponent."

The Arizona Kid says: "The Cubs and the Brewers are tied 1-1 in the top of the 6th."

South Shore Joey (Generation Y): "Does Senator McCain have bullet points in front of him that he's trying to hit? He was asked if he was going to vote for the current bailout plan and just said, 'Sure but...' That sound frighteningly Bush-like. I thought this wasn't four more years of Bush." Through most of this campaign I've dismissed rude McCain ads as the ugly necessity of politics. He's never been my candidate as I simply disagree with most of his political views and ideas of government, but he's always been a hero. But I've never been so disappointed in a politician as I have been these past few days over John McCain's utter buffooner with the attempts to postpone the debate in the name of economic resolution. I assumed I was desensitized to being talked down-to by the candidates. I was wrong."

Sounds like these people already have made up their minds.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

It has been a while since the American people heard a substantive discussion about the war on terrorism and the decision of the Bush administration to invade Iraq. The war has cost $800 billion, more than 4,000 American lives, and more than 30,000 wounded. Researchers of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated a year ago that more than 650,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since March 2003.

Obama says we need more troops in Afghanistan. We took our eye off the target there. We should have kept up the pressure on terrorism there. Instead, he says, we invaded Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, and that just sapped resources away from where they were really needed.

McCain sounds strong on the war -- he's trying to convince the American people that it was a good idea to invade Iraq and that we're winning. This argument has dubious appeal. On one hand, it appeals to our patriotic instincts and our desire for something about the Bush years to make sense. On the other hand, it sounds like McCain is painting a silver lining on a war that most Americans consider to have been unnecessary and too costly.

Both men speak eloquently on this subject and explain their differences clearly.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Lehrer has just asked the candidates what they regard as the lessons of Iraq.

McCain: We can't go to war without enough troops. The consequences of defeat would have been a wider war, sectarian violence and continued conflict. Instead, because of his (McCain's) push for a new strategy, the surge worked, and we're coming home as victors.

Obama: We shouldn't have gone into this war to begin with. We had no idea what it would cost, what the exit strategy would be, how our decision to invade would effect our relations with other nations. And the war in Afghanistan wan't finished. "We have to use our military wisely, and we did not use our military wisely with Iraq."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Obama concedes that, with the nation sliding into recession and the cost of the proposed bailout, he won't be able to spend as much money as he was planning on spending. "Some of the things that I think need to be done will have to be delayed," he said.

McCain has a refrain that might have worked 20 years ago -- it certainly worked for Ronal Reagan -- that we need to cut government spending, that government is out of control, that government is the problem. And yet both he and Obama are ready to dole out $700 billion to cover bad debt from the Wall Street debacle. Question from the back of the hall: Is this a good time to be arguing that big government is the enemy? Is it?

It would be stunning if Lehrer would ask these guys about the national debt. Neither of them ever address it when they campaign. It was bad enough when Bush took office -- about $5.7 trillion. It is now approaching $10 trillion and headed toward $11 trillion. It is now approaching 70 percent of GDP. No one really talks about this, and the media hardly ever brings it up.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

On the second set of questions from Lehrer, McCain, who has been in the Congress since 1983, led off by saying federal spending is out of control. Where has this guy been? 

Obama keeps refering to the middle class; he speaks of the "middle class really struggling right now," and "getting the middle class a fair shake." It sounds like he's been instructed to use the term "middle class" a lot. I'm still waiting for McCain to mention it.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Obama nailed the first question from Lehrer. He said he supports the bailout, but with specific conditions, calling for oversight, taxpayer benefit and no rewards for fat cats. He was specific and direct with his answers, looked right into the camera, spoke to the concerns of the middle class. McCain muddled through his answer, and it wasn't clear where he stood on the bailout.

Also, who consulted McCain on his tie? It's five different colors and reads badly on camera.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

John McCain heads into the debate as a decided underdog -- he and his campaign having had a rough couple of weeks. Add it up -- McCain's assertion that Rick Davis, his campaign manager, had severed his connections to Freddie Mac (only to have the New York Times prove the connection virtually the next day); the decision to "suspend" the campaign and not go to the debate; the decision not to suspend the campaign and go to the debate. McCain went to Washington to save the country, then did virtually nothing, and Harry Reid pretty much called him a nuisance. Plus, Sarah "On A Clear Day You Can See Siberia" Palin gave that sad performance in the Katie Couric interview, making it clear to all but the brain-dead that McCain made a terrible choice for a running mate; one almost feels sorry for Gov. Palin. Then McCain skipped out on Letterman and Letterman let him have it, and it's all over YouTube . . . . John McCain is the one who has something to prove tonight, not Obama. He has to prove he's still all there.

----

Glenn Kessler, president and CEO of HCD Research Inc. in New Jersey, has 2,000 people standing by tonight with cell phones and laptops so they can score the candidates, question by question, answer by answer, instantly. I spoke to Kessler Wednesday on Midday, after seeing a McClatchy story on his project. Kessler's company has hooked up with Muhlenberg College to conduct the survey tonight. They want to gather instant public opinion, before the Olbermanns and other talking heads tell viewers what they just heard. Kessler's firm will pay people to respond to text messages or pop-ups on their laptops. Each message asks voters to assess McCain's and Obama's responses to questions. You can follow this during the debate at the HCD web site, www.mediacurves.com

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This was something out of the Wizard of Oz -- acres and acres of amazing sunflowers on a farm on Maryland Route 439, near an autobody shop. You've got to see this before harvest, and if you like landscape photography head out there as fast as you can -- and as soon as the rain lets up this weekend. I took a quick note of the nearest address and it looked like 20233 Old York Road, near W. Liberty Road. We were somewhere west of I-83. I think the hamlet is called Trump. The mailing address is probably White Hall. We came upon this scene last Friday, in the mid-morning sunlight, and it was stunning. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Scarecrow and Dorothy out there somewhere.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This is a first -- an e-mailed letter from the president and CEO of Northwestern Mutual. This is my insurance man, though I've never met him. Northwestern is "The Quiet Company," so quiet that I never receive e-mail solicitations from them. In fact, I receive almost nothing from them except bills and semi-annual statements. I guess the Wall Street Debacle compelled the Quiet Man to say something reassuring:

September 23, 2008

To our valued clients,

In this time of unprecedented difficulty in the financial markets, I am proud to be able to assure you that Northwestern Mutual remains a very strong company.

Your company continues to hold top ratings for insurance financial strength from all four major ratings agencies — Standard & Poor's, Moody's, Fitch Ratings and A.M Best. On September 17, in fact, Standard & Poor's affirmed our top rating, saying that "Northwestern maintains capital that comfortably meets Standard and Poor's requirements for a 'AAA' rating."

You should also know that we continue to pursue the same long-term approach to investing that has helped us weather financial market turbulence for over 150 years. This allows us to support a strong surplus position, currently standing at $15.3 billion,* which serves as a cushion during downturns.

Delivering on this goal helps us keep our promises to you.

As a major investor in the capital markets, of course, we are not immune to every movement in the market. Because we are a mutual company, however, we can focus on long-term outcomes without feeling the pressure to achieve short-term objectives, such as maximizing earnings over a single quarter.

We can maintain our focus on your best long-term interests.

In short, you can remain confident that Northwestern Mutual is following the same path we have followed to deliver strength and value to you during more than 150 years of all market cycles. Through good times and bad, we have remained a pillar of financial security. We intend to continue following that path for your benefit, and for the benefit of all of our clients.

Sincerely,


Edward J. Zore
President and Chief Executive Officer
Northwestern Mutual

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The election is still six weeks away, and I have a terrible track record at predictions but that never seems to stop me, so here goes: I bet a dozen candy apples the slots referendum goes down.

Of course, that would be a major upset, if you go by what the polls have been telling us since winter. But, from where I sit, the grass-roots anti-slots crowd appears passionate, relentless and vocal while the other side doesn't seem to have developed an identity, though it's generally associated with gambling lobbyists  and the thoroughbred horse industry. (A lot of people tell me they've grown tired of the horsemen's whine about how tough it is to make a living here.)

We're told pro-slots forces are waiting to strike in October and that they have millions to spend on advertising. Then again, maybe they think the national economic mess and Maryland's budget shortfalls will shock taxpayers into marching out on election day and voting in favor of the constitutional ammendment.

But I can't see that happening.

Recent polls show that Marylanders still support the referendum to legalize slots, but the level of support has dropped considerably since January. (Not that it's a precise measure of attitudes in any way, but I haven't had a single caller to my radio show express support for slots, other than in that cynical, I'm-so-freakin'-sick-of-the-whole-thing way.)

And Martin O'Malley? He's gone from calling slots "morally bankrupt" to being ambivalent about them to embracing all 15,000 machines. We're told he's going to push hard for the ammendment's passage, but who's going to listen to him? His popularity went into the tank after last year's tax increases, he picked the wrong horse (H.R. Clinton) in the presidential primary  . . . and, well, he isn't exactly having a banner year. Plus, this was a Bobby Ehrlich thing -- slots -- and do you think The O'Governor is just a little squeamish about being identified with an issue so identified with his Republican rival?

Look, the gambling forces (read that, Magna Corp. of Canada) might come up with major moolah to buy a lot of TV time in October; they might put on a show yet.

But I'd just like to remind everyone of something that occured in the 1988 election. Pardon me if it sounds like ancient history. But that was the year the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun forces poured a ton of money into Maryland in an effort to kill a referendum to prohibit what used to be called Saturday Night Specials, an array of cheap handguns used in a lot of  shootings and homicides here. Whether the law had any merit or effectiveness -- that's beside the point. The point is, Marylanders so resented big money coming into the state and making obnoxious buys of advertising -- outsiders telling us what to do, basically -- that the law passed overwhelmingly.

The same thing could happen if the pro-slots boys get too heavy-handed between now and Election Day. They've got a nice little lead in the polls now. They could lose it if they don't do enough -- or if they do too much.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Wow! So many great additions to the "You're from Bawlmer if" list. Thank you. Keep them coming. If you have trouble scrolling and navigating through the blog, you might have to go to the February blog and pick through what's there. Lots of good stuff. If anyone knows the source of the original list, please let me know.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

You refer to Catonsville Community College as UCLA  (University of Catonsville Left of Arbutus)

You remember Mayor Schaefer swimming with the seals at the National Aquarium.

How about laughing out loud to the Johnny Walker morning show on WFBR, and his risque shows at the Barge?

You marvel at all the city bumper stickers; Baltimore's Best, Baltimore is Best, Charm City, The City That Reads, and Believe!

You still think of the governor as that kid with Shannon Tide, singing "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" at 2 am at McGinn's.

You remember Marty Bass with hair, and a leisure suit, trying to explain his way out of soliciting an undercover cop. ("I was just trying to get into her head")

You know when to stay off the JFX.

You still refer to the Mount Washington Tavern as Sparwassers.

You miss the RCA dog.

You swore Frank Perdue kinda looked like one of his tender chickens.

The "new" candelabra TV tower on television hill was the tallest thing on the planet at the time.

You know which bridge they're talking about when someone says, 'The bridge traffic is backed up.'

You actually admire someone named "Boog."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

You have no idea what an Auchentoroly is, but know where there is a street (a terrace actually) named after one.

You have great memories of Memorial Stadium, an the days when Brooks, Frank, Jim Palmer, Gus Triandos, Mark Belanger, Luis Aparicio, Jim Gentile, Milt Pappas, Dave McNally, Andy Etchebarren, Eddie Murray, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Johnson, Rick Dempsey, Earl Weaver, and the
Ripken boys gave Baltimore plenty of seasons and reasons to be proud.

You had to pull out the BS sign when Robert Irsay declared that he had to move (steal) the Colts from Baltimore, because the city would not support a team.

We didn't get to be the world's largest outdoor insane asylum for nothing.  The names of Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry,  Bill Pellington, Art Donovan, Tom Matte, Alan Ameche, Gino Marchetti, Jim Mutscheler, Lenny Moore, John Mackey, Big Daddy, Jimmy Orr, Bert Jones,
Lydell Mitchell, John Dutton, Mike Barnes, Joe Ehrman, Fred Cook, and many
others are held in reverence to this day!  Wouldn't support a team .....hmmm!!!!

You remember when Baltimore Street was a gaping cavern covered by wooden planks and steel plates during years of subway construction.

You still cheer for the Orioles even when they aren't doing well, and root for anyone playing the Yankees or Colts. There'll never be even the slightest hint of forgiveness for Bob Irsay,
and Mayflower Movers might as well move themselves to Indiana for all the
business I'll ever give them.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You know what a 'zink' and 'payment' are, and
 just how important it is to "warsh them marble stoops."

You yell out "O" during the Star Spangled Banner.

You remember urban renewal, the riots of 68, and burn-baby-burn.

And no matter where you are, you can only laugh when you see signs saying "Maryland Crab Cakes!"

Even during all the years of no pro football team in Baltimore, you couldn't bring yourself to be a Redskins Fan.

You say ' Blare Road ' for Belair Road.

You understand the inner and outer loops of the beltway, and don't understand why they need signs up to point out which is which.

You remember Rolf Hertzgaard, Frank Luber, Royal Parker, Jim Mustard, Mike Hambrick, Ron Smith, Jerry Turner, and Al Sanders on the tube. How about Rhea & JP and Miss Nancy?

There was Kirby Scott, Johnny Dark, Jack Edwards on  WCAO, Jay Grason and Galen Fromm on WBAL, Lee Case on WCBM, Mike March, Johnny Walker, and The Flying Dutchman on WFBR, and Joe Buccheri on a variety of Classic Rock (WKTK) stations, to name but a few.  Don't forget Chop Chop Fisher & Big Daddy on WWIN.

You remember the strange mixture of Oprah Winfrey and Richard Sher on WJZ's morning show.

You were confused for a few years after they swapped one-way directions on Lombard and Pratt Streets.

You've been to a prom at the "Alcazar", and probably danced to the Admirals.

Vince Bagli was 'the' sports announcer on TV.

Charlie Eckman was 'the coach.'

Chuck Thompson was 'the' voice of the Orioles after Bailey Goss.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You know where to park for the Preakness.

The cheapest guy in town had an ideal location to watch fireworks.

 Mama Cass Elliott.

 You remember the old North Central Railroad that ran from downtown to Pennsylvania.  It ran on the current light rail tracks along the JFX, through Mount Washington, crossed Lake Roland (Robert E Lee Memorial Park), out thru Ruxton and Lutherville, crossed York Rd at the
Cockeysville underpass, and then headed north to PA on what is now a great
bicycle path.  The transition from working railway to light rail and bicycle
path was courtesy of a very determined Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

David and Freddie killed off any chances of NCR recovery in '79.

You love to hear Arty Donovan explain anything.

You got a parking ticket (or towed away) while in court for a parking ticket in the old traffic court at 211 E Madison Street.

You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name.

You are an expert crab picker that always volunteers to teach visitors the only (and best) way to pick a steamed crab.  Of course everyone else around you will interrupt the lesson to show your new student their best way, and confusion will reign.  This will never change!

You had to be ready to yell out your order at Captain Harvey's, or risk hearing jeers from all the longshoremen in line.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You remember when Belvedere Avenue was "Northern Parkway ", and the
 two-lane road up-the-hill from Falls Rd to Roland Ave was a steep, narrow, and treacherous path.  They stopped traffic on Falls Road to allow the cars on Belvedere to travel one at a time on
 icy/snowy days; Cold Spring between Falls and Roland wasn't much better.

You know Frank Zappa was from Dundalk, and that somehow helps you to understand his lyrics.

You remember a very green, but not very Irish, Hyman Pressman marching in the St Patrick's Day parades and Louis L Goldstein with his immortal "God bless you all real good" blessing.

You remember special deli shopping trips to Stone's Bakery, Jack's Corned Beef, Weiss Deli, and Attman's Deli on Lombard St, right in the heart of the high rise projects.

In those days, Sears was still called Sears, Roebuck and Company and lived at Harford and North.  Wards was a little more formal as Montgomery Ward, and was at located at Monroe and
 Washington Blvd.  Both stores carried their own brand of lawn mowers, tools, guns,
 motorcycles, clothes, shoes, tires, and appliances.  A Sears Revolving Credit Card was tough to get!

You remember the Gwynn Oak, Carlin's, and Bay Shore Amusement Parks.

You know where Engine 6 lives.

You remember all the ship repair drydocks that lined Key Highway.  Now it costs a million-plus to call it home!

You wait every year to hear true Baltimore Christmas classics; "Oh, I want Crabs for Christmas" and "Walking in an Essex Wonderland".

You first heard of Spiro Agnew when he was the Baltimore County Executive.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You instantly recognize your entrance into Dandily, even if blindfolded; better yet, Eastpoint!

 You remember Ross Z. Pierpont, candidate for governor - again!

 You and your Mom shopped at Braeger-Gutman's, Hutzler's, Stewart's, Hochschild Kohn, Robert Hall, The May Company, Hecht's, Peck & Peck, Hamburgers, Epstein's, Woolworth's, SS Kresge, McCrorys, Ben Franklin, Dacks 5 &10, EJ Korvettes, Two Guys, Cooks,
Kaldor, Hechingers, and of course, Shocketts on Broadway

Shopping on The Avenue meant Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown, unless of course you were from the other side of town, then it was 36th St.

Shopping on The Boulevard meant Washington Boulevard in Pigtown.

You've cruised Ameche's, the Circle, Champs, The Thunderbird, and Topps Lot on a week-end evening to see the muscle cars.

You know that an A-rabber is really a guy who sells fruit and vegetables from a horse drawn cart.
 S.....O....F....T....C......R....A......B....S also....

You remember when the city po-leece cars went from black and white, to blue and white, then to all white with red and blue stripes.

You know live crabs are at their very meanest right before steaming, and that if one gets you..... he WILL NOT let go!

You helped paint a bi-centennial fire hydrant.

You know that the Colts Band does not need a football team to do their thing.  They were formed in 1947 and have spent 13 years of their existence without a team (51 to 53 & 84 to 95).  Didn't
slow  'em down at all!

You always knew where to find Blaze Starr. (2 O'Clock Club)

You remember the spectacular 13-alarm Schapiro's Rag-Factory fire that lit up the entire city sky.  Hint: it's where the Pepsi sign on the JFX is now.

You remember cutting school to go to the Flower Mart and Opening Day.

You remember Greenmount Cemetery as a place you could actually visit, or drive past, without taking your life in your hands.

You know where ' Downey Ocean ' is, and remember where the "Irish House" was.

 You remember the old rivalries of Poly vs. City and Loyola vs. Calvert Hall were played out every Thanksgiving Day at Memorial Stadium.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You liked the Orioles smiling cartoon bird face better than the ornithologically-correct Oriole on today's ball cap.

More Parks sausages Mom, Please!

You remember the rotating restaurant on top of the Holiday Inn on Light Street. That's gone????

You've had the monster "Powerhouse" burger at one of four Ameche's
 drive-ins, and (long before there was a McDonald's in sight), you could "Meetcha at Ameche's!" at Loch Raven & Taylor, 5800 Reisterstown Rd, 7700 Wise Ave, or Ritchie Highway & 5th in Glen Burnie.  All gone!

A few years later you could also have a 15-cent burger at Gino Marchetti's, or drive through the Circle for a Cheesy-Q.  They're gone too!

You get a kick out of hearing Johns Hopkins or Pimlico named in movies or TV.

You know B&O is not body odor.

You remember when the Baltimore Civic Center was home to The Baltimore Bullets, The Baltimore Blast, The Baltimore Clippers, rock concerts, car shows, horse shows, civil-service exams, circuses, ice shows, and graduations.

You remember the wonderful spicy cinnamon smell of McCormick's on Light Street, and all the big festivals at Rash Field.

You've marveled as the three-wheeled motor cops shifted both sides of
33rd Street to the "one-way" pattern to get all the  traffic in and out of Orioles and Colts games in record time, every time. Try that one on Pratt Street.

Every kitchen had a can of Old Bay and every Frigidaire a case of Natty Boh.  Ain't the beer cold!

You remember when Baltimore rated a Playboy Club, and no, it wasn't on The Block.

 You understand the difference between Hampden and Remington.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You love to see the Domino Sugar sign reflecting across the harbor.

You'll always remember the cheerleading O's fan, Wild Bill Hagy, in Section 34, from the 70s.

You remember when Social Security moved out of the Candler Building to the new complex in Woodlawn. You remember seeing the Four Seasons perform at Painters Mill or at Club Venus. You saw the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, and Peter, Paul & Mary and the Village People at the Civic Center . You saw Emerson, Lake, and Palmer at the Lyric. You saw Otis Reading, the Four Tops, and the Temptations at Calvert Hall. (You didn't save a single program!)

You danced at the Club Venus, Hollywood Park, Teen Center, CYO or the Epithany.

You remember the Towson State Teachers College in Towson.

All the big downtown theaters were as cool as the Senator is now.

You know where High and Low streets meet.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

The Sun's Jay Hancock will join me on Midday at 1 pm today (88.1 FM, WYPR), along with Addison Wiggin of The Daily Reckoning, to talk about the Big Bailout and the national debt picture, as well as CEG and Mayo Shattuck's latest accomplishment in the financial world. Email questions and pithy comments at midday@wypr.org, or call in and rant at 410-662-8780

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You remember driving over the old Kent Narrows Drawbridge that snarled weekend traffic coming home from the Ocean.  You remember 17-mile traffic backups coming back from Ocean City on holiday weekends.

You remember the guy who crashed his plane into the upper deck of Memorial Stadium after a Colts playoff game.

 You had plenty of friends who worked at Sparrows Point, and each had an ugly old "point car" to drive to work.

 Everybody else (it seemed) worked for GM on Broening Highway, Western Electric, or National Brewery.

 You remember going to see the fabulous Fire Department Christmas Train Garden at the home of T-27 & E-45 on Glen Avenue.  (By the way, it's still open)

Fort Holabird was alive and thriving.

You remember when now trendy Canton was a true blue-collar neighborhood of small factories, a can company, waterfront oyster and vegetable packing houses, seed companies, tug boat piers,
 filthy  harbor water, and a few greasy-spoon restaurants.  In the early 70s the
 neighborhood had about eight square blocks of its homes demolished to make
 way for an interstate to connect 95 and 83.  The interstate never
 happened, but there are ramps for it on I-95 to this day.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Taking visitors downtown at night to see the Washington Monument and pointing out why (from a certain angle) George Washington is really the father of our country.

You looked forward to Earl Weaver antics over a bad call; okay, over any call.

 You remember laughing at bawdy jokes and political comments scrawled in white shoe polish on the front window of Turkey Joe's Bar in Fells Point.

Eating at Pollack Johnnie's, Lexington Market,  Attman's, Bel-Loc Diner, Ciminos, Little Tavern (buy 'em by the bag!),  White Castle, AJ's Dog House, Horn & Horn, Oriole Cafeteria, White Coffee Pot, Hot Shoppes, Ameche's, Gino's, Read's, Hooper's, Silber's Bakery.

You've seen the governor (and other dignitaries) standing in line, in the rain, outside of Haussners, because they never took reservations.

You remember Friendship Airport (now BWI) and Harbor Field (now Dundalk Marine Terminal).

You remember late night "Mister Ray's Hair Weave" commercials. (Let me put that hair on your head!)

You found yourself cheering for the guys -- first from MICA, then a lone janitorial-supply salesman -- who added  "hon" to the Welcome to Baltimore sign on the BW Parkway, especially after officials got upset and staked out the sign to catch them.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Mia Sutphin was a Howard County girl who grew up to live her dream of making a difference in the world. While a freshman at Notre Dame Prep in Towson, she wrote that she wanted to do something to help others -- be a teacher or nurse. She chose nursing. After college, she worked as a high school nurse in Colorado, as a pediatric intensive care nurse at University of Maryland Medical Center, and eventually as a nurse in hospitals, hospices and orphanages in India and Africa. In 2002, she volunteered at Nyumbani Orphanage near Nairobi, Kenya, home to abandoned HIV-infected children. She died of a drug reaction while being treated for malaria at a hospital in Nairobi. She was 27. . . . Her family established a charity in her name, and this weekend is the Mia Sutphin Foundation's annual fundraiser, at Turf Valley. Funds raised will support, among other charities, Nyumbani Orphanage in Kenya. The director of the orphanage will be my noon guest today on Midday, (88.1 FM), WYPR.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

 You still use the old "Poly" on North Avenue as a reference for directions.

 If you were interested in motorcycles, you could buy a Honda at Pete's in Hamilton, a Triumph at Boutwell's on Broadway, a Harley at Baltimore HD on Loch Raven Blvd, a Beemer from Motor Sports Center on Pinckney Rd, or a Yamaha from Frankie & Ronnie's on Route 40.

 Speaking of Ronnie, how about Baltimore's own Ronnie Dove?

 You remember when Baltimore had three passenger train stations:  Penn
 Station, Camden Station, and the B&O Station on Mount Royal Avenue.

 It also had a functioning light rail system.  The city and adjoining counties were linked by street cars, which plied the tracks for 104 years before the busses ultimately won on November 3, 1963.  One of the last survivors was the No. 8 line, which ran between
 Catonsville and Towson.  There are still a bunch of huge old car barns around: York Road in
 Govans, Harford Rd in Hamilton, Belair Rd in Overlea, Retreat Street, and
 the monster on Washington Blvd, to name a few.

 Car drivers, bicycle riders, and pedestrians had to avoid street car tracks long after the street cars were out of business. It took years to dig up the tracks, and some are still evident on paved-over cobblestone streets.  Now we are spending a gazillion dollars trying to
 re-create the original version of light rail.

 You can remember what the harbor looked like before it was The Inner Harbor, and that Connolly's Restaurant on Pier 5 was the last survivor of the old Pratt Street waterfront.

You know why Pigtown is called Pigtown.

You remember swimming and family picnics at Beaver Dam and Beaver Springs Swim Clubs in Cockeysville, and no one knew of a place called Hunt Valley.

You remember when there was home delivery of the Morning Sun, The Evening Sun, The Sunday Sun, The News-Post, and The Sunday American. The last two were later the News-American, and all long before the City Paper made its debut.

You know what/where the 9th Ward is.

You remember when White Marsh was just a marsh, Owings Mills was just a
 farm, and Columbia was a utopian dream (and a farm).
 You still don't get the whole "Town Center" thing and maybe you shouldn't
 ....... it's just a mall!

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

We don't know the source of this fine list, so I can't yet give credit. It arrived as an e-mail from some natives now in middle-age and a little beyond. This is good for born-in-Baltimore Baltimoreans, those of us who adopted the city as our own, and even newcomers. Enjoy, and feel free to post your additions.

 You're from Bawlmer if . . .

You remember when you could only buy a Volvo from Michaelson Motors on
 Reisterstown Rd.   . . .  The best place to become a Chevrolet ownah was at York
 and  Bellona.   Johnny's on Harford Rd was the "Walking Mans Friend."   Granny
 Packer was on Blair Road in Oberlee, and "Hey, Hey Fox Chevrolet" was just
 as annoying then as the car ads these days. Don't forget Doug Griffith's
 Corvettes on Harford Road.

 You rode on street cars and busses operated by BTC
 (Baltimore Transit Company), and remember when their color schemes went
 from yellow to green to blue, and you could pay with tokens.

 You can sing the phone number for Hampden Moving and
 Storage.  (Belmont 5 0600).

 You remember Royal Parker yelling at kids jumping on
 furniture that was not covered in plastic:  "What're ya trying to roon
 it?"

 You think being called "hon" by waitresses,
 cashiers, bank tellers, and complete strangers is perfectly normal.
 You remember the Bay Belle cruise that took you to Betterton and
 Tolchester beaches before the Bay Bridge was built.

 You watched local TV shows:  Duckpins for Dollars, The Collegians,
 Pinbusters, Buddy Deane Show, Romper Room, and Hutzler's Theatre.

 You also saw Stu Kerr star as Bozo the Clown and Professor Kool for the
 kids, then host "Dialing for Dollars" for the stay-at-home moms, and
 later fill-in as the weather man (complete with cloud and sun magnets)
 on the 6 o'clock news. (Don't forget Rhea and JP, no Doppler then)!

 Your mother always knew the daily "count and the amount" on dialing for
 dollars.

 You know how to pronounce Towson and Ellicott City,
 and always notice ads where the announcers get it wrong.

 We had milk home-delivered by Green Spring,
 Sealtest, and Cloverland but somehow Cloverland was the only who claimed
 to be "the dairy with cows".  Oh yeah, you can probably sing their number too
 (NOrth 9-2222)

 Going for a Sunday drive to get ice cream at
 Murrays, Sanders (The Dam Place), or at Cloverland Dairy Farm on Dulaney
 Valley Rd.   If you didn't have a car, there was always a walk to Arundel or High's.
 Or you could just stay home and wait for the bells of the Good Humor Man - "Wait
 a minute!"

 When somebody gave their phone number prefix (such as IDlewood - 5 or
 DRexel- 7 or HAmilton - 6), you knew right where they were from.

 You've been on Sunday drives through "Droodle" park, and watched the
 submarine races at Loch Raven or Lake Montebello.

 You still use the old "Poly" on North Ave as a reference for directions.

 If you were interested in motorcycles, you could buy Honda at Pete's in Hamilton, a Triumph at Boutwell's on Broadway, a Harley at Baltimore HD on Loch Raven Blvd, a Beemer from Motor Sports Center on Pinckney Rd, or a Yamaha from Frankie & Ronnie's on Route 40.

 Speaking of Ronnie, how about Baltimore's own Ronnie Dove?

 You remember when Baltimore had three passenger train stations:  Penn
 Station, Camden Station, and the B&O Station on Mount Royal Avenue.

 It also had a functioning light rail system.  The city and adjoining counties were linked by street cars, which plied the tracks for 104 years before the busses ultimately won on November 3, 1963.  One of the last survivors was the No. 8 line, which ran between
 Catonsville and Towson.  There are still a bunch of huge old car barns around: York Road in
 Govans, Harford Rd in Hamilton, Belair Rd in Overlea, Retreat Street, and
 the monster on Washington Blvd, to name a few.

 Car drivers, bicycle riders, and pedestrians had to avoid street car tracks long after the street cars were out of business. It took years to dig up the tracks, and some are still evident on paved-over cobblestone streets.  Now we are spending a gazillion dollars trying to
 re-create the original version of light rail.

 You can remember what the harbor looked like before it was The Inner Harbor, and that Connolly's Restaurant on Pier 5 was the last survivor of the old Pratt Street waterfront.

You know why Pigtown is called Pigtown.

You remember swimming and family picnics at Beaver Dam and Beaver Springs Swim Clubs in Cockeysville. and no one knew of a place called Hunt Valley.

You remember when there was home delivery of the Morning Sun, The Evening Sun, The Sunday Sun, The News-Post, and The Sunday American. The last two were later the News-American, and all long before the City Paper made its debut.

You know what/where the 9th Ward is.

You remember when White Marsh was just a marsh, Owings Mills was just a
 farm, and Columbia was a utopian dream (and a farm).
 You still don't get the whole "Town Center" thing and maybe you shouldn't
 ....... it's just a mall!

Taking visitors downtown at night to see the Washington Monument and pointing out why (from a certain angle) George Washington is really the father of our country.

You looked forward to Earl Weaver antics over a bad call; okay, over any call.

 You remember laughing at bawdy jokes and political comments scrawled in white shoe polish on the front window of Turkey Joe's Bar in Fells Point.

Eating at Pollack Johnnie's, Lexington Market,  Attman's, Bel-Loc Diner, Ciminos, Little Tavern (buy'em by the bag!),  White Castle, AJ's Dog House, Horn & Horn, Oriole Cafeteria, White Coffee Pot, Hot Shoppes, Ameche's, Gino's, Read's, Hooper's, Silber's Bakery.

You've seen the governor (and other dignitaries) standing in line, in the rain, outside of Haussners, because they never took reservations.

You remember Friendship Airport (now BWI) and Harbor Field (now Dundalk Marine Terminal).

You remember late night "Mister Ray's Hair Weave" commercials. (Let me put that hair on your head!)

You found yourself cheering for the guys -- first MICA students, then a certain janitorial-supply salesman -- who added  "Hon" to the Welcome to Baltimore sign on the BW Parkway, especially after officials got upset and staked out the sign to catch them.

You remember driving over the old Kent Narrows Drawbridge that snarled weekend traffic coming home from the Ocean.  You remember 17-mile traffic backups coming back from Ocean City on holiday weekends.

You remember the guy who crashed the plane into the upper deck of Memorial Stadium after a Colts playoff game.

 You had plenty of friends who worked at Sparrows Point, and each had an ugly old "point car" to drive to work.

 Everybody else (it seemed) worked for GM on Broening Highway, Western Electric, or National Brewery.

 You remember going to see the fabulous Fire Department Christmas Train Garden at the home of T-27 & E-45 on Glen Avenue.  (By the way, it's still open)

Fort Holabird was alive and thriving.

You remember when now trendy Canton was a true blue-collar neighborhood of small factories, a can company, waterfront oyster and vegetable packing houses, seed companies, tug boat piers,
 filthy  harbor water, and a few greasy-spoon restaurants.  In the early 70s the
 neighborhood had about eight square blocks of its homes demolished to make
 way for an interstate to connect 95 and 83.  The interstate never
 happened, but there are ramps for it on I-95 to this day.

You love to see the Domino Sugar sign reflecting across the harbor.

 You'll always remember a cheer-leading O's fan Wild Bill Hagy, in Section 34, from the 70s.

You remember when Social Security moved out of the Candler Building to the new complex in Woodlawn.

You remember seeing the Four Seasons perform at Painters Mill or at Club Venus.  You saw the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, and Peter, Paul & Mary, and the Village People at the Civic Center .  You saw Emerson, Lake, and Palmer at the Lyric. You saw
Otis Reading, the Four Tops, and the Temptations at Calvert Hall.  (You didn't
save a single program!)  Or dance at the Club Venus, Hollywood Park, Teen Center, CYO or the Epithany.

You remember the Towson State Teachers College.

 All the big downtown theaters were as cool as the Senator is now.

 You know where High and Low streets meet.

 You liked the orioles smiling cartoon bird face better than the
 ornithologically-correct Oriole on today's ball cap.

More Parks sausages Mom, Please!

You remember the rotating restaurant on top of the Holiday Inn on Light Street.

You've had the monster "Powerhouse" burger at one of four Ameche's
 drive-ins, and (long before there was a McDonald's in sight), you could "Meetcha at Ameche's!" at Loch Raven & Taylor, 5800 Reisterstown Rd, 7700 Wise Ave, or Ritchie Highway & 5th in Glen Burnie.  All gone!

A few years later you could also have a 15-cent burger at Gino Marchetti's, or drive through the Circle for a Cheesy-Q.  They're gone too!

You get a kick out of hearing Johns Hopkins or Pimlico named in movies or TV.

You know B&O is not body odor.

You remember when the Baltimore Civic Center was home to The Baltimore Bullets, The Baltimore Blast, The Baltimore Clippers, rock concerts, car shows, horse shows, civil-service exams, circuses, ice shows, and graduations.

You remember the wonderful spicy cinnamon smell of McCormick's on Light Street, and all the big festivals at Rash Field.

You've marveled as the three-wheeled motor cops shifted both sides of
33rd Street to the "one-way" pattern to get all the  traffic in and out of Orioles and Colts games in record time, every time. Try that one on Pratt Street!

Every kitchen had a can of Old Bay and every Frigidaire a case of Natty Boh.  Ain't the beer cold!

You remember when Baltimore rated a Playboy Club, and no, it wasn't on The Block.

 You understand the difference between Hampden and Remington.

 You instantly recognize your entrance into Dandily, even if blindfolded; better yet, Eastpoint!

 You remember Ross Z. Pierpont, candidate for governor - again!

 You and your Mom shopped at Braeger-Gutman's, Hutzler's, Stewart's, Hochschild Kohn, Robert Hall, The May Company, Hecht's, Peck & Peck, Hamburgers, Epstein's, Woolworth's, SS Kresge, McCrorys, Ben Franklin, Dacks 5 &10, EJ Korvettes, Two Guys, Cooks,
Kaldor, Hechingers, and of course, Shocketts on Broadway

Shopping on The Avenue meant Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown, unless of course you were from the other side of town, then it was 36th St.

Shopping on The Boulevard meant Washington Boulevard in Pigtown.

You've cruised Ameche's, the Circle, Champs, The Thunderbird, and Topps Lot on a week-end evening to see the muscle cars.

You know that an A-rabber is really a guy who sells fruit and vegetables from a horse drawn cart.
 S.....O....F....T....C......R....A......B....S also....

You remember when the city po-leece cars went from black and white, to blue and white, then to all white with red and blue stripes.

You know what an espantoon is.

You know live crabs are at their very meanest right before steaming, and that if one gets you..... he WILL NOT let go!

You helped paint a Bicentennial fire hydrant.

You know that the Colts Band does not need a football team to do their thing.  They were formed in 1947 and have spent 13 years of their existence without a team (51 to 53 & 84 to 95).  Didn't
slow  'em down at all!

You always knew where to find Blaze Starr. (2 O'Clock Club)

You remember the spectacular 13-alarm Schapiro's Rag-Factory fire that lit up the entire city sky.  Hint: it's where the Pepsi sign on the JFX is now.

You remember cutting school to go to the Flower Mart and Opening Day.

You remember Greenmount Cemetery as a place you could actually visit, or drive past, without taking your life in your hands.

You know where ' Downey Ocean ' is, and remember where the "Irish House" was.

 You remember the old rivalries of Poly vs. City and Loyola vs. Calvert Hall were played out every Thanksgiving Day at Memorial Stadium.

You remember when Belvedere Avenue was "Northern Parkway ", and the
 two-lane road up-the-hill from Falls Rd to Roland Ave was a steep, narrow, and treacherous path.  They stopped traffic on Falls Road to allow the cars on Belvedere to travel one at a time on
 icy/snowy days; Cold Spring between Falls and Roland wasn't much better.

You know Frank Zappa was from Dundalk, and that somehow helps you to understand his lyrics.

You remember a very green, but not very Irish, Hyman Pressman marching in the St Patrick's Day parades and Louis L Goldstein with his immortal "God bless y'all real good" blessing.

You remember special deli shopping trips to Stone's Bakery, Jack's Corned Beef, Weiss Deli, and Attman's Deli on Lombard St, right in the heart of the high rise projects.

In those days, Sears was still called Sears, Roebuck and Company and lived at Harford and North.  Wards was a little more formal as Montgomery Ward, and was at located at Monroe and
 Washington Blvd.  Both stores carried their own brand of lawn mowers, tools, guns,
 motorcycles, clothes, shoes, tires, and appliances.  A Sears Revolving Credit Card was tough to get!

You remember the Gwynn Oak, Carlin's, and Bay Shore Amusement Parks.

You know where Engine 6 lives.

You remember all the ship repair drydocks that lined Key Highway.  Now it costs a million-plus to call it home!

You wait every year to hear true Baltimore Christmas classics; "Oh, I want Crabs for Christmas" and "Walking in an Essex Wonderland".

You first heard of Spiro Agnew when he was the Baltimore County Executive.

 You know where to park for the Preakness.

 The cheapest guy in town had an ideal location to watch fireworks.

 Mama Cass Elloitt.

 You remember the old North Central Railroad that ran from downtown to Pennsylvania.  It ran on the current light rail tracks along the JFX, through Mount Washington, crossed Lake Roland (Robert E Lee Memorial Park), out thru Ruxton and Lutherville, crossed York Rd at the
Cockeysville underpass, and then headed north to PA on what is now a great
bicycle path.  The transition from working railway to light rail and bicycle
path was courtesy of a very determined Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

David and Freddie killed off any chances of NCR recovery in '79.

You love to hear Artie Donovan explain anything.

You got a parking ticket (or towed away) while in court for a parking ticket in the old traffic court at 211 E Madison St.

You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name.

You are an expert crab picker that always volunteers to teach visitors the only (and best) way to pick a steamed crab.  Of course everyone else around you will interrupt the lesson to show your new student their best way, and confusion will reign.  This will never change!

You had to be ready to yell out your order at Captain Harvey's, or risk hearing jeers from all the longshoremen in line.

You have no idea what an Auchentoroly is, but know where there is a street (a terrace actually) named after one.

You have great memories of Memorial Stadium, an the days when Brooks, Frank, Jim Palmer, Gus Triandos, Mark Belanger, Luis Aparicio, Jim Gentile, Milt Pappas, Dave McNally, Andy Etchebarren, Eddie Murray, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dave Johnson, Rick Dempsey, Earl Weaver, and the
Ripken boys gave Baltimore plenty of seasons and reasons to be proud.

You had to pull out the BS sign when Robert Irsay declared that he had to move (steal) the Colts from Baltimore, because the city would not support a team.

We didn't get to be the world's largest outdoor insane asylum for nothing.  The names of Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry,  Bill Pellington, Art Donovan, Tom Matte, Alan Ameche, Gino Marchetti, Jim Mutscheler, Lenny Moore, John Mackey, Big Daddy, Jimmy Orr, Bert Jones,
Lydell Mitchell, John Dutton, Mike Barnes, Joe Ehrman, Fred Cook, and many
others are held in reverence to this day!  Wouldn't support a team .....hmmm!!!!

You remember when Baltimore Street was a gaping cavern covered by wooden planks and steel plates during years of subway construction.

You still cheer for the Orioles even when they aren't doing well, and root for anyone playing the Yankees or Colts. There'll never be even the slightest hint of forgiveness for Bob Irsay,
and Mayflower Movers might as well move themselves to Indiana for all the
business I'll ever give them.

Everybody knows what a 'zink' and 'payment' are, and
 just how important it is to "warsh them marble stoops."

You yell out "O" during the Star Spangled Banner.

You remember urban renewal, the riots of '68, and burn-baby-burn.

And no matter where you are, you can only laugh when you see signs saying "Maryland Crab Cakes!"

Even during all the years of no pro football team in Baltimore, you couldn't bring yourself to be a Redskins Fan.

You say ' Blare Road ' for Belair Road.

You understand the inner and outer loops of the beltway, and don't understand why they need signs up to point out which is which.

You remember Rolf Hertzgaard, Frank Luber, Royal Parker, Jim Mustard, Mike Hambrick, Ron Smith, Jerry Turner, and Al Sanders on the tube. How about Rhea & JP and Miss Nancy?

There was Kirby Scott, Johnny Dark, Jack Edwards on  WCAO, Jay Grason and Galen Fromm on WBAL, Lee Case on WCBM, Mike March, Johnny Walker, and The Flying Dutchman on WFBR, and Joe Buccheri on a variety of Classic Rock (WKTK) stations, to name but a few.  Don't forget Chop Chop Fisher & Big Daddy on WWIN.

Eddie Fenton.

You remember the strange mixture of Oprah Winfrey and Richard Sher on WJZ's morning show.

You were confused for a few years after they swapped one-way directions on Lombard and Pratt Streets.

You've been to a prom at the "Alcazar", and probably danced to the Admirals.

Vince Bagli was 'the' sports announcer on TV.

Charlie Eckman was 'the coach.'

Chuck Thompson was 'the' voice of the Orioles after Bailey Goss.

You refer to Catonsville Community College as UCLA  (University of Catonsville Left of Arbutus)

You remember Mayor Schaefer swimming with the seals at the National Aquarium.

How about laughing out loud to the Johnny Walker morning show on WFBR, and his risque shows at the Barge?

You marvel at all the city bumper stickers; Baltimore's Best, Baltimore is Best, Charm City, The City That Reads, and Believe!

You remember Marty Bass with hair, and a leisure suit, trying to explain his way out of soliciting an undercover cop. ("I was just trying to get into her head")

You know when to stay off the JFX.

You still refer to the Mount Washington Tavern as Sparwassers.

You miss the RCA dog.

You swore Frank Perdue kinda looked like one of his tender chickens.

The new candelabra TV tower on television hill was the tallest thing on the planet at the time.

You know which bridge they're talking about when someone says, 'The bridge traffic is backed up.'

You actually admire someone named "Boog."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (147)
        

A reader in Towson, who found herself in the same situation I've been in a few times -- and that of many other people -- wonders what to do:

I am a disabled person, and as such, I rely on MTA to travel about.
 
At the end of last week, I was on a bus where I observed reprehensible behavior, to which I responded with deep sadness.  I felt so powerless.
 
I noticed a young mother, with a young child (he was perhaps 2, 2 1/2 years old).
They had just gotten on the bus, and were finding their seats.
 
The next thing I heard was a terrible smacking sound; the mother yelled at her child:
"You are not going to tell me where to sit"; and then, when the young boy began to cry, the Mother yelled at him, "Shut Up".
 
I felt so powerless.
 
I felt so terrible that the young boy was the object of his mother's rage.  Could she have stopped before she lashed out at her son? 
 
I know that you have written about scenes such as this that you have witnessed. What can we do as individuals?  What can we do as citizens?  How do we protect the children in our City from being hurt?  How can we protect the Children of Our World?
 
As silly as it sounds (?), maybe there is a pressing need for Parent Education; i.e. a course of instruction that reaches every mother (and father) who become pregnant, who visit their doctor.
Could/would this help?
 
I am a person who grew up in a damaged home.  My parents were both mentally ill, and my brother and I had to make sense of a world that made no sense.  I have spent a lifetime digging out from the rubble of my Mother's self-hatred and my Father's ignorance and neglect.
 
I weep for children who are mistreated like this young child on the bus.
 
So much goes on in this world.  So much.
 
How can we change this world?  I suppose, One Child At a Time.
 
I wished I could have said something to the young, troubled mother.  Did she know how
she was hurting her son?  Would my words have inflamed her more?
 
I weep when I see an innocent child like this being hurt.

Here's what I say: I say speak up when you see this.
Nothing good comes of hitting kids. Parents teach with their words and deeds. When they
slap a child, they teach violence, and the person who does it in public is
doing much more in private.
   Parents think they have a right to beat children - they call it "spanking"
- after they have failed as adults to correct behaviors, or when they are
drunk or high, or when they are tired and angry, or when they just feel like
it. Many adults think it's just fine because they either do it themselves or
because they had the same experience when they were kids. And, in the great
denial that marks human existence, they don't see the
harm in it.
   And let's face it: We're jaded. We're suckers for the belief that human
beings will never change, that we are doomed to living with the cancer of
ignorance and violence.
   The streets and prisons are full of men and women who were abused as
children, but that fact doesn't stop us from abiding the mistreatment of more
children - either at the hands of their relatives or at the hands of a society
that denies them real opportunities and a chance to rise above poverty and
mediocrity.
   In some ways, believing that humans will never change - or that there's
nothing we can do about violence, that it's just in our nature - is
comforting. It means you can live your life and keep your mouth shut. "Mind
your own business!"
   I say that's no way to live.
   Excuse me for rambling and spouting off.
   But I am sick of the cycles - of addictions, violence, stupidity and failure. We can't give up. We have to do what we can do, in our own little corner of the world, while we still have time. We have to speak up.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Readers are invited to post their remembrances of Ken Harris, the former City Councilman who was slain early Saturday. Leave a note on this blog, or write an e-mail to me at midday@wypr.org this morning, or any time before 1 pm. The second hour of today's Midday show is devoted to Harris, who served in the council from 1999 until his unsuccessful run for the council president's seat. You can call in as well, at 410-662-8780, any time between 1:05 and 2 pm. If you knew Ken, worked with him, went to school with him, or had dealings with him in your neighborhood, please get in touch.

Midday, 88.1 FM, WYPR

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Tune into Midday today for some free advice. In the first hour, our guest is Ken Solow, a founding partner of Pinnacle Advisory in Columbia and its chief investment officer. In the second hour, career coach Marty Nemko has the scoop on the jobs market. Call 410-662-8780 or drop us an e-mail in advance at midday@wypr.org

Midday, 88.1 FM, WYPR, Baltimore

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Among the early-morning responses to today's column was this one, from a retired 65-year old African-American man:

Recently, I had the opportunity to email a fellow that I had gone to Officer Candidate School with over 40+ years ago.  I told him that the only way America could purge itself of debilitating racism is by the passing my generation and my children’s generation.  In fact, my grandchildren’s generation may have to pass away before this country is finally ready for an African-American president.  I’m sure, as a White Republican, he did not appreciate my remarks.

I voted for Hilary Clinton because I was, and still am, certain that White America cannot and will not vote for an African-American.  In addition, I voted for Hilary because I was interested in winning, not making history.  I honestly believe we could be in a deep, debilitating depression (1929 style) and White America would still vote for the party in power if the party out of power had an African-American candidate.  I truly believe Obama is going to be the victim of the Bradley Effect.

This presidential contest should be a cake walk for the Democrats.  But its close for one reason and one reason only . . .

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Make sure you scroll through this blog to read the comments that keep coming in from all over . . . . .

Sarah Palin calls herself a hockey mom, and the media has dropped that shorthand into numerous reports about the Republican governor of Alaska since John McCain plucked her from political obscurity. There are thousands of hockey moms in the United States, so, without some detail, the term is almost meaningless. What the nation really needs to know -- and maybe we'll get it from her speech at the convention tonight -- is what type of hockey mom she is. There are various types, after all, and, being a hockey dad with considerable experience in this field, I will provide a guide to fellow journalists as they set out to research Sarah Palin’s background.

First of all, I should point out some distinctions between hockey moms and the soccer moms of American political cliché.

Soccer moms get to attend their children’s games in the great outdoors, often in warm sunshine. Hockey moms rise early, in the dark morning hours of a winter Saturday or Sunday, and drive their hockey-playing children to an ice rink in time for an 8:00 am game, which occurs indoors, under the dim lights of cold hockey rinks.

Depending on where she lives, a hockey mom may have to travel two hours to an ice rink and she is expected to arrive one hour before a game. This is less common today because there are more rinks in the United States than when youth hockey first got its red-eyed reputation. Still, in parts of the country where hockey has grown in popularity – in southern or western communities, for instance -- the drive between rinks can be quite long. And, in Alaska, no trip is short.

Hockey moms know the price of gas intimately, they have to work hard to get a tan and they don’t sleep as much as soccer moms do. Their wardrobes involve a lot of Polar Fleece.

Many hockey moms give up stuff to pay for their kids’ hockey experience. Primarily because of the cost of ice time, it’s a relatively expensive sport, and it covers two seasons, fall and winter. Hockey moms might be among the last group of Americans who actually try to save money during the year so they can pay for their kids’ choice of sport.

Now, within the ranks of hockey moms, there are different types. Here are three:

Cool-Not-Cold Hockey Mom: Lets her husband do the driving. She stays in bed as long as possible, and at home with younger children. Does not like hockey that much, wishes her kid played soccer. When she turns up for a hockey game, she usually watches from the rink lobby, where it’s warm. This is an intelligent woman capable of detached reason – supportive of her children, yet wise enough to know that adequate sleep is necessary for household leadership and that it’s only human to want to stay warm in cold places. She does not regard herself as superior, just rational.
Power Play Hockey Mom: Assumes leadership in her kids’ ice hockey clubs and is practiced in multiple-tasking. Volunteers to schedule games, order uniforms or manage a team. Knows little about hockey, but knows how to run the game clock. Conducts 50-50 raffles and Bingo nights. Helps organize pizza and pasta sales. Uses a Sharpie to personalize, with the calligraphy she learned when calligraphy was a craze, each player’s water bottle. This woman has compartmentalized her life, and hardly ever forgets a name or face. She gets to practices and games the children of less-organized families.
X-treme Hockey Mom: Totally into hockey and seeing her kids play in college some day. Knows all the teams, all the coaches and how they’re all rated. Gets to be a little overwrought at times, always looking for the best deal for her kids and is not above playing one hockey club against another. Very savvy to the international aspect of the sport and could probably clean Joe Biden’s clock in a debate about whether the East Europeans are now better at the sport than the Canadians who invented it. You don’t want to mess with X-treme Hockey Mom. She’ll drop the gloves on ya.

I am curious to know which description fits Sarah Palin, not only the first woman nominated as a Republican candidate for vice-president but the first major political figure that I recall with “hockey mom” in her profile.
To this point, we have not heard as much about hockey moms because their children’s sport is not as ubiquitous as soccer. Youth soccer is everywhere. My god, there’s no escape from it!
Hockey, on the other hand, has spread throughout the United States, but is still concentrated in states that begin with M and were on the Union side in the Civil War – Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota.
Hockey is big mainly in Blue states (New England, New York, New Jersey included), but in 2008, a couple of key hockey-mom states are in play – Ohio, Michigan, parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. (Yes, Virginia, there is plenty of ice hockey in your state.)
I suppose this improves McCain’s chances among swing voters, except for what it assumes – that women might choose a president based on who his vice-presidential running mate is, no matter what her political positions are, or because she’s a woman, or because her kids play ice hockey. The Sarah factor might prove me wrong, but I think that’s all thin ice. We shall see, eh?

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (74)
        

Originally published September 11, 2002
© 2002 The Baltimore Sun 

   I WOULD LIKE to say something to the kids today, so you grown-ups will have
to excuse me. All memories of the year past have me thinking of the future,
and the future is where children live. So this is for them.
   Some of you kids might be reading this during the hour that exactly marks
the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.
    Most of you were in school when that happened. A lot of you were dismissed
from class and sent home by midday. Remember?
   It was a clear and sunny day, and you'll all live forever with the glaring
contradiction of such a horrible act on such a beautiful, late-summer,
back-to-school, back-to-work day. "The sky's still the same unbelievable
blue," Bruce Springsteen sings in one of the tracks on his new CD.
   I have a similar memory from nearly 40 years ago - the dismissal from
school on the Friday afternoon President Kennedy was killed. It was a November
day, but clear and bright, and Officer Charlie Thomas, the usually jolly
crossing guard, wept as he held up his arms to stop traffic in front of our
school. Whenever we get to November, around Thanksgiving, I look at the silver
bark of trees, washed in bright afternoon sunlight, and I think of the day
Kennedy died and how the world seemed to shatter.
   Every generation lives with the memory of a day like that.
   Yours is Sept. 11.
   Sorry to say that, but I can't imagine any of you ever forgetting it.
   You know how parents are. We always want to keep the dam of bad news from
breaking. For as long as possible, we want to protect you from all the ugly
things that occur in the world, at the hands of cruel and ignorant and greedy
and fanatical people. We want to extend your childhood for as long as
possible, so that you have time to experience the good things and come to know
life on Earth first as a great field of possibilities and pleasures. We figure
you'll learn about the bad stuff in bits and pieces as you grow up. We just
hate to see you become jaded by, say, 12.
   But Sept. 11 was the day the dam broke.
   There was nothing we could do to protect you. A lot of parents felt
helpless that day. We might have shown you a strong face, but inside we were
crumbling.
   Which probably makes you wonder why I would use this column space, to conjure up that awful day again.
   It's because I had an idea to put in a plug for thinking in a way that's
bigger than the day. I want you to think of yourselves in a grand way - as
true citizens of the Earth and the Future Earth - and to consider all that
could be done to make life better and maybe even reduce the chances of another
Sept. 11.
   I know that sounds like something you might have heard at a high school
commencement, or in church, in synagogue or mosque. But, look, you either have
to think in these grand terms or became a cynical crank who crawls through
life, licking mud, contributing nothing.
   We have the choice of stewing in our anger, bewilderment and hatred or
reaching deep inside and pulling out the good stuff that could actually make a
difference in the world.
   I heard Rush Limbaugh say on the radio that Americans haven't been angry
enough, that we're too soft, too caught up in trying to understand those who
hate us instead of just hating them back. But Rush is wrong. Americans went
through their anger and their hate, and if you're scraping around for a sign
of hope today, it's that the anger and the hate did not fester. It turned into
action - military and civilian - and into displays of concern and kindness, of
patriotism, of faith and love.
   Hate begets hate; anger begets anger.
   Many generations have failed to grasp that lesson.
   You can do better than that.
   Elizabeth Wainio's last act in a life of 27 years was to use her cell phone
to call her mother, Esther Heymann, from one of the hijacked airliners.
"Elizabeth wanted to tell me how much she loved each of us in the family," her
mother wrote from Catonsville in July. "She expressed concern for the
well-being of those who would have to recover from this murderous act. In her
typical style of thoughtfulness, Elizabeth calmly expressed more concern for
how her family would recover [than] about herself. ... Elizabeth knew what
mattered: love well, and be unselfish."
   I promise, kids, no one is going to give you a hard time if you bake
cookies for the old woman who lives alone down the street, or call up a
grandfather in the middle of a day to tell him he's loved. You can do
something selfless for a classmate or a teammate, or your club or your
neighborhood. You can read a good book, or encourage someone else to read it.
You could teach someone to read it. Try and keep a positive attitude. Look for
what's good in the orneriest person you know. Say hello to someone who usually
looks too shy to start a conversation. Make a stranger feel included, by
kicking the soccer ball or throwing the basketball his way. Make someone
laugh. Write a thank-you note to someone who deserves it - a teacher, a
mentor, a coach - just so they feel appreciated and remembered. Be generous.
Open your eyes and ears to the world, to people who are different. Dare to be
smart. Dare to do something great. You're stuck with this day as a landmark in
your lives. Use it for something good.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

LeRoy Edmunds, from Baltimore County Fire Department Truck 8, formerly E16, says all the guys will be wearing the T-shirts from their 2001 bet with FDNY all day today. The original story, explaining the connection between these men, follows.

Newfound friendship between local, N.Y. firefighters cut short

Originally published September 26, 2001
© 2001 The Baltimore Sun

BACK ON Jan. 28, Super Bowl Sunday, the phone rang at a Baltimore County
fire station, and LeRoy Edmunds picked up. This is Vinny Princiotta, the
caller said. New York City Fire Department, Engine 16/Ladder 7. "We wanna make
a bet on the game."
   The Giants were about to play the Ravens. This Princiotta wanted to make it
interesting and have some fun with guys from a Baltimore firehouse with a
comparable number. He'd been calling around. He couldn't find an Engine 16 in
Baltimore City. So he settled for the one in the county -- Station 16, Golden
Ring.
    "Come on, who is this?" said Edmunds, 35 years old and 12 of them a
firefighter.
   This is Vinny Princiotta, the caller said. "I wanna make a bet."
   Edmunds sniffed a stationhouse prank. The New York accent sounded
authentic, but he didn't bite.
   "Let me call you back," Edmunds said.
   When he did, he got Engine 16/Ladder 7 in Manhattan and spoke again to this
Princiotta character, who was, of course, bustin' chops about the Giants
trouncing the Ravens.
   OK, Edmunds agreed, you got a bet.
   How about 20 T-shirts?
   If the Giants were to win, the guys from Station 16 would give up 20 BCFD
T-shirts to the guys in New York. If the game went the other way, then the
guys at Engine 16/Ladder 7 would send 20 of theirs south.
   Deal?
   Deal.
   Baltimore won the game, of course, and Edmunds found himself in the
enviable position of winning a bet with a brassy New Yorker.
   He called Manhattan the next day.
   "Is Vinny Princiotta there?" Edmunds asked.
   "There's nobody here by that name," Princiotta said with a laugh, then
promised to make good on the bet. He invited Edmunds to the Big Apple to
collect.
   In April, Edmunds and some comrades -- Lt. Butch Polesne and firefighters
Dave Oliver and Dave Dryden -- made the trip to Manhattan and got the
T-shirts. They stayed at Engine 16/ Ladder 7, 29th Street and Second Avenue,
and the guys there treated them like brothers.
   "Oh my God, they were so nice to us," Edmunds recalled yesterday. "We went
up there for two days and stayed overnight. ... Food? Oh my God, they made
hamburgers that had to weigh a pound apiece. There was pasta and chicken
breast. One plate looked like a serving for four."
   Princiotta and a firefighter named Patty Boylan showed them some sights,
including the nearby Empire State Building, the landmark that appears, as an
icon, on one of their trucks. Edmunds noticed a proud claim in large letters
on Ladder 7's truck: "We Can Do That."
   Princiotta and Boylan took the Baltimore guys to a couple of clubs for
off-duty drinks. "The bouncers knew Vinny," Edmunds said. "What a great guy, a
wild man."
   There was a New York Giants flag hanging near the watch room. When the New
Yorkers were looking the other way, the Baltimore County guys replaced it with
a Ravens banner, a finishing touch to all the back-and-forth ribbing that had
gone on throughout the visit.
   It was a great experience -- lots of laughs, instant camaraderie. Edmunds
had so much fun he planned to return in December. Even though he'd known him
for a short while -- a few days, a few hours, really -- in Princiotta, he felt
he'd made a friend for life.
   Then came 9-11. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept.
11, Edmunds knew right away that, if Princiotta was on duty, he'd be at the
scene.
   He was.
   And still is.
   The staggeringly long list of MIAs from the Fire Department of New York
lists 39-year-old Vincent Princiotta and five other comrades from Ladder 7 --
firefighters George Cain, Robert Foti, Charles Mendez and Richard Muldowney
Jr. and a lieutenant named Vernon Richard.
   A day or so into the nightmare, Edmunds wasn't sure what had happened to
his new friend. He called Princiotta's house in a New York suburb. He thought
he heard a familiar voice. "Vinny?" he said. But the man who answered the
phone turned out to be Princiotta's brother-in-law. He told Edmunds the bad
news. It's believed Princiotta and his crew were in the midst of trying to
rescue people from one of the burning twin towers when it collapsed.
   Since the disaster, people have flooded Engine 16 with tributes, placing
flowers and American flags beneath the station's roster board, preserved with
the chalked-in names of Princiotti and the others who were on duty 9-11.
   Over the weekend, LeRoy Edmunds and some firefighter friends visited their
brother-firehouse on 29th Street to express sympathy and support. This time,
they stayed at a motel. "Patty Boylan was there, but he was not like himself
at all," Edmunds said. "Still, they were super nice to us. ... Then the family
of some of the missing guys started to come in."
   And it was time to leave.
   They walked around Manhattan. "People were so nice to us," Edmunds said.
"We went into a biker bar and people clapped. Strangers on the street hugged
us. We told them we weren't from New York, we were from Baltimore. And they
said, `We don't care, we love you. ... You're here. You came up here to
support our guys.'"
   They did what they could from home, too. Each day last week, the
firefighters at Station 16 wore the Engine 16/Ladder 7 T-shirts they'd won on
Super Bowl Sunday.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

What did you think of Sarah Palin's speech?  Drop us an e-mail -- please be brief -- and we'll consider reading it on the air during the first hour of Midday today: midday@wypr.org

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

John Zogby is familiar to millions of Americans by now as a super pollster and tracker of trends. He is CEO of Zogby International, keeping an ear to public opinion in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe since 1984. John Zogby has made numerous appearances on national television shows and today he visits Midday to talk about a changing nation as described in his book, “The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream.”  Questions welcome at midday@wypr.org

1 pm on Midday, 881. FM, WYPR

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Sun columnist Jean Marbella and Matthew Crenson, political science professor emeritus at Hopkins, return to Studio A today to talk about John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Bob Moser, a contributing writer to The Nation, will be our guest by phone from Minnesota. Phone with your comments between noon and 1 pm on 410-662-8780 or e-mail us at midday@wypr.org

Second hour: Evolutionary evangelist Michael Dowd

Midday on WYPR, 88.1 FM

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)